Devil May Cry: The Ties That Bind
by Emerald Templar
Summary: Story of the complicated Sparda family and the history that forged Dante, Vergil, and Nero into who and what they are. Slightly AU - after DMC 4, includes events from before DMC 3. Rated M to be safe. Minor OCs. R&R.
1. Prologue

Prologue

The night was cold, even with the approach of winter just around the corner. Breath rose as steam in the air, ghostly mists that dissipated seconds after it left the mouths of those roaming down the streets. Not a single soul went untouched by its grasp. Nero shivered.

"Damnit! What the hell is with this weather?" he muttered to himself, shaking his head.

Reaching up with his left hand, he pulled his hood over his head, shielding his face and the blasting headphones from the bitter gusts of wind. Music pulsed into his ears. For a second, he thought he saw something glimmer in the air before him, shining silver before it vanished, only to reappear on the surface of the cast covering his right arm – the Devil Bringer.

_Snow…just great. _

The humans around him made a series of multi-emotional, but unheard sounds as many of them stopped to look up at the snow slowly falling from the grayed night sky. Navigating around the gawping individuals who apparently led very sheltered lives and thus stared like children, he gave a haggard sigh as he reached the street corner. Looking down the intersection from under his hood, he barely noticed a shadow whip across the street before disappearing.

_What the hell was that?_

The peaceful air of the night was suddenly pierced and ended by the screams that erupted from just behind him. He even heard it over the guitar solo playing from his headphones. Ripping them and his hood off of his head to see and hear better, Nero stared up…

Just what was it?

A white mist had materialized in the center of the street. He watched as a car passed through its cloudy mass, its steel frame and passenger passing through it. Well, mostly….

He gritted his teeth as the fog burst and rolled, like liquid, the stretching forms of faces reaching out from its white haze, as though they were trying to free themselves, but were constantly being sucked back in. As his eyes passed over the car, its hood and frame now pocketed with thousands of dripping, jagged holes, slowly growing bigger, he almost vomited, turning his head away from the sight of those who had been inside it.

Clenching his right hand in a fist, the cast around it abruptly exploded, freeing the Devil Bringer from its hiding place.

_Note to self….don't think about the dead, decomposing people! Especially about how thoroughly they seemed to be practically spilling apart. _

Cursing himself for not thinking ahead enough to bring the Red Queen with him, Nero went for the nearest weapons he could find; the Blue Rose inside of his coat, and a stop sign.

Yes, a stop sign.

The Devil Bringer's ethereal fingers wrapped around the metal pole holding it to the cement. It came free with barely a heave. Raising his double-barreled magnum with his left hand and firing off two quick shots, he hefted the stop sign, and threw it like a javelin.

The bullets only served to create a pair of dips in the forehead of one of the screaming, torn faces. Like two really, really bad zits popping. As for the stop sign…

Well, it didn't do all that much stopping.

Rolling his eyes and groaning with frustration, Nero quickly stepped into the street as the people around him ran about in a panic, trying to escape.

"I hate enemies like this!" he fumed, firing another pair of useless shots from the Blue Rose.

_Okay, time for plan B. _

He lunged forward, running headlong at the misty thing before stretching out his hand. The Devil Bringer's demonic aura appeared again, like a replica about five times the size of his normal arm. Its glowing blue claws tore through the mist as Nero prayed that he could find something to dispel the growing mass of fog. He felt something and went for it.

"Get….outta there!" he roared, yanking his fist back.

The mist all but dispersed within the blink of an eye. One second, it was there. The next, it wasn't. And coming right at him was the naked, white figure of a woman.

_Oh, Dante would love this!_

The Blue Rose met the forehead of the unearthly gorgeous woman before she could even make contact with him.

"Take this!" he shouted, firing off the last two bullets from his gun.

He didn't even wait to see what would happen. Having learned enough from the incident with his 'Holiness' on Fortuna Island, he had learned one thing from the fellow demon hunter, Dante.

Overkill it. Every. Single. Time.

The Devil Bringer arrived at his target only a second after the bullets shattered the skull of the woman, breaking what might have been the nose and any other bones within the vicinity of her face. In other words, it all but blew up under his fist. The figure jerked back suddenly as the force of his pull amplified the blows. She fell to the ground, limbs aquiver, twitching. He quickly stomped down on the form with his boot until all movement had ceased as it slowly vanished.

Like he said. Overkill it.

A wisp of something blew by his cheek. He didn't even have time to realize it had burned to the touch. The next thing he knew, excruciating pain was running through his face as the right side went ablaze, blood dripping from the wound.

_Another one?_

"Crap," he mouthed as he saw the dozen or so other figures coming straight at him.

Every person who had lingered too long on the streets…they were all dead. More than dead. Hell, they were turning into puddles of goop right in front of him, bloody stains and nothing more. The nearest thing smiled at him, flashing pearly white teeth as its white skin flowed as it went into a run, green glowing eyes aimed right at him.

"Oh, fu-"

A bright flash…no, more like a whirlwind of blue light tore right through the womanly forms pouncing at him. Confused, he watched as the shape of a sword went right by him, ripping its way through the mist things as they came, giant gashes cleaved open in their bodies. Every single one of them dematerialized into nothingness before he could breath.

"What the-"

Turning around to the echo of footsteps, whipping his head left to right to try and see just who had saved him, Nero only saw a flap of blue disappear behind the corner of a building and then silence fell.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – Of Money, Women, Demons, And Pizza

The jukebox in the corner switched records, making only a few scrapping sounds before it settled into a smooth, steady jazz beat. Music slowly began to fill the room again. His coat he kept on, all the time, even when the subzero temperatures of winter were not approaching and making it much harder for his clunker of a heater to work.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

He sighed. Another customer.

He caught the phone as the heel of his boot came thudding down on the desk, which his legs were propped on, sending it spiraling momentarily before it reached him. He swallowed the mouthful of cheesy, sausage, mushroom, pepper, onion, and pepperoni goodness he had been chewing, wiping his mouth with a gloved hand.

Nothing like pizza. Any pizza.

"Devil May Cry," he drawled, leaning back so he was a little more comfortable in his chair.

A pre-recorded message began to play from the other end. Dante withheld another sigh as he quietly studied the remaining piece of pizza in his hand. _What the hell?_ Like he needed to talk to a freaking computer. As the recorded voice went on, he crammed the last bit in before a technical beep sounded on the other line.

"Is this Mr. Dante of Devil May Cry?" a woman's voice asked.

"Hyah, uh ish(ßYeah, it is)," he tried to say through a mouthful.

_No wonder I never get any women besides the cranky, gun-totting type. _

"Excuse me?" the woman said, obviously confused and somewhat affronted.

He coughed.

"Sorry, I was in the middle of something," he offered as a bleak explanation, "You sorta caught me during my afternoon snack."

"Oh…well then, Mr. Dante, I'm afraid to inform you that your rent is three months overdue."

"Like I don't know that. But what can I say? Business has been bad these past few weeks."

"Yes, we're quite familiar with your regular tendencies towards overdue bills."

_Oh. Ouch. That one kinda stung. _

"Normally, we would be a little more understanding of your situation, but due to your…..conduct with our financial representative-" she went on for a while.

"Wait, you mean the scrawny, stuck up guy that wouldn't take 'no' for an answer?" he asked, vaguely recalling the mentioned day.

"We have no choice but to set a time before we have to foreclose on you," she said, not even skipping a beat.

"Hey! The guy was a total jerk! He practically said I was a bum who lived on garbage and scamming people," he retorted, exasperated.

"That does not give you the right to take up firearms against him!" the woman exclaimed, temporarily breaking the calm, zen-like tone of her voice.

_Heh. Oh yeah._ He still had the bullet holes in the walls from chasing that guy out. Now he remembered.

"You're lucky he did not file lawsuit against you," she remarked, regaining herself.

"Oh, well, lucky me!" he replied.

There was silence for a second. He heard the woman give a sigh.

"Mr. Dante, if you don't-"

"Listen…..why don't we talk the whole thing over at dinner? I know this real great Italian place on 13th. It'll be my treat."

"I don't think you're in the position to be asking any woman out with your money problems, Mr. Dante."

"Maybe not. But I have other things that make up for it."

Silence again. She was probably blushing on the other end. Dante almost laughed.

"Unfortunately, you will not be able to sleep your way out of this, Mr. Dante. You have one more month. Goodbye, Mr. Dante."

The click on the other end was like the tolling of a bell from a really bad, clichéd romance movie when the hero tragically loses his loved one. Or something like that. Same effect. He tossed the phone back onto the receiver without another thought, folding his arms over his head, stretching.

"So much for the date," he muttered to himself, and instantly recovered from the familiar pitfall of minor disappointment, "Trish and Lady should be back soon…I can always get some nookie if I'm lucky. I wonder what…"

Ring. Ring. Ring.

"Oh, hell!"

He grabbed the phone again as it flew through the air a second time.

"Devil May Cry. And I am not here to accept calls from frustrated bankers, money men, or loan sharks that are out to collect my debts. And I'm also not going to accept calls from women who will tease me sexually and leave me hanging. Literally. So, what is it?"

"….."

"Can you hear me?"

"Hello, Dante," a response finally came through, another woman's voice speaking.

"Oh…hi, Lady."

"Sounds like you're having an interesting day. Are you going to hear me out, or hang up because you're too dense to learn how to save money and get women?"

"Actually, you count for both. So maybe I should hang up anyways."

"Before you do, you might want to hear this. I just got done with one of my missions, and I have to warn you.….something's going on, Dante. I don't know what, but there have been a lot of demon sightings lately. You should be careful."

"Aw. Aren't you sweet? You make me all warm and gushy inside. We should sleep together."

"Don't get any ideas. I just don't want you to die before I get my money back."

"What would I ever do without your gentle, loving care, Lady?"

"You're such an ass. I'll see you later, Dante."

The line went out before he could say anything else. Again, he tossed the phone back to its place on the desk.

_Trouble's coming, huh?_ Then again, some sort of trouble was always coming. And it was usually headed right for him.

Still, more demons could only mean that something was going on in the demon world. And meanwhile, the only thing he could do was sit back and wait and see what happened.

Besides, he had a pizza to finish. Just as he was about to shove another piece down his throat, the same sound that had gone off twice came for a third time.

"Damn, what happened? I win some kinda popularity contest?" he cried, pounding the top of the desk with his fist this time.

The phone sailed up, was caught, etc.

"Devil May-," he said, bored.

"Dante? We need to talk! You still at the office?"

_Nero? What the hell?_ He sounded beat and in the midst of a fight. _What could have that kid so riled up?_

"Where else would I be, kid? Why, you got yourself into a scrap or something?" he asked, interested.

"Maybe. I'll swing by with Kyrie. We just got attacked!"

"Attacked? By what?"


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Visitors

The doors to the office swung open an hour or so later. The only thing that had changed was Dante was now resting on the couch, pretending to sleep and generally ignoring the phone, the now empty pizza box topped off by the half-finished bottle of beer he had drank before dozing off. His eyes opened as soon as he heard the hinges creak open. Nero and Kyrie walked in. The only thing that had changed about his apprentice/student/part-time sidekick was that he had only grown a little taller in the year since Fortuna Island and their "Savior". Otherwise, he was exactly the same. Kyrie, however, seemed like she had lost a little weight since her last visit to Devil May Cry. Then again, her entire life had been uprooted within a few days. While she was getting along just fine with Nero, there were still adjustments that she was going through. Also, she looked very strange in faded blue jeans and a sweater. Dante had never seen her in anything but a dress.

He stood in a sudden dramatic fashion, flaring his coat out as he did so.

"Kyrie, my dear, you look absolutely wonderful," he said in his best prince charming impression, bowing ridiculously and elegantly, reaching out a hand to take hers and kiss it as he bowed.

The young woman said not a word as he did so, but instead blushed profusely. The white-haired young man beside her growled.

Dante straightened, offering Nero a smile.

"What's up, shrimp?" he asked, thinking over just what Nero might do if he ruffled the kid's hair a little.

He didn't do it. Even if he wanted to. Nero might punch him and upset Kyrie.

"Dante, what's goin' on?" Nero blurt out, ignoring one of the many nicknames Dante had bestowed upon him since their meeting.

"Maybe you should explain what happened first, since I have no clue what you're talking about. You were attacked?"

"Yeah, last night and only two hours ago."

"By…..?"

"Demons!"

"Listen, my young padawan learner, you really need to be more specific about what baddies you're talking about."

"I don't know! I've never seen them before!"

"Well, you haven't seen much, so that's not that-"

"Dante…"

Nero's face twisted into a wrathful look of utter contempt. As much as it made Dante smile, he stopped joking. _For now anyways._

"Okay! Okay! What did they look like?" he questioned in a slightly more serious tone as he leaned back against the pool table.

Nero shrugged.

"They're like…fog! And whatever touches them burns!"

"Burns? Like…how?

"I don't know!."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, they look like women."

"Wait! I thought you said they looked like fog."

"After you get them out of the fog!"

"Okay then. So, we've got some fog women running around, burning people to a mess…and they've attacked you twice already. Is that right?"

"Yeah."

"You really can't take care of yourself, can you, Nero?"

Bam!

"Nero!" Kyrie cried out, shocked.

Dante saw only stars for about a split second as the Devil Bringer connected with his jaw. His vision went dancing, his legs turning to jelly. He barely managed to slap one hand down and catch himself against the pool table. Nero might still be a little small timer, but his devilish limb sure could pack one helluva punch.

"Alright," he said, holding his jaw and stretching it from side to side, "So what do you want me to do?"

"First, I want Kyrie to stay here. And then, I want you to help me find where these things are coming from!"

"Kyrie…you've been attacked too?" he asked, frowning for the first time all day.

That wasn't good. This sounded way too much like a personal hit on someone. Whoever or whatever was behind this, they knew who they were going after. There was too much coincidence in all of this to ignore. And Dante believed in true coincidence about as much as he put stock in religion.

The girl only nodded, taking Nero's hand and giving it a squeeze. Dante didn't miss that.

"Alright, you can stay here," he said, jerking his thumb up towards the stairs on the right, "There's a couple spare rooms. You can pick one. As for you, Nero, I'm going to have to call in more info before we go bananas on whatever's behind this."

"Where do you want to start?" Nero asked hurriedly, his shoulder relaxing noticeably as soon as the idea that 'Kyrie was safe' entered his head.

_Damn, the kid could be thick._ But when it came to genuine care for his friends, he knew no boundaries. And he was always ready to jump right into something.

Although it wasn't always smart to begin with. But then again, Dante had never possessed good timing or an inch of caution either.

"Right now, you should hole up here too, kid," he explained, crossing his arms, "It seems like these attacks are targeting one of us. So…the only option is to lure our enemy out. If we all stay here, he'll eventually pay a call."

"Is there any quicker way to do this?"

"Not really."

"Damn!"

"In the meantime, go grab me a pizza."

"Do I look like a delivery boy to you?"

"Yep! Now amstray! Kyrie, make yourself at home."

Shooing Nero away while the other lovebird nodded and made her way up the stairs, Dante went back to his desk, briefly thinking over just what might be behind this. Personal hits like this usually had some sort of motive or reason behind them. Which meant that, whoever might be calling these demons up, at least Dante had had dealings with them before. Nero was too green to have made that kind of enemy.

"Hey, Dante," Nero called from the door as Kyrie disappeared upstairs, "There's something else. Last night, I was saved by someone."

"Someone? Who?" he asked, aloof.

"No idea. I didn't see his face. All I know is that a bunch of swords pierced these fog things before they could get to me, and then they left."

_Geez._ Between the mysterious savior, the scalding demon women brigade, and their master, he had a feeling his insurance for his office was about to go up.

"Not again," he let out in a breath as he sat back down at his desk, gulping down the remaining beer.

Now Loading…

"How you live like this, I will never know!" Lady told him as he finished about his tenth piece of pizza that evening, Nero and Kyrie having joined him at the small poker table in the corner.

"What? It's not that bad!" Dante insisted, waving away her comment.

"Does your whole menu consist of pizza, strawberry sundaes, and beer?"

"Pretty much."

"How can you eat like that and still stay in shape?"

"An indestructible stomach, lots of sleep, hunting demons for exercise, and women."

Lady crossed her arms as she shifted her weight, tilting her head at that. He could just barely see her blue and brown eyes behind her sunglasses. Meanwhile, Kyrie only stifled a giggle from where she sat next to Nero.

"Women?" Lady repeated skeptically.

"Yes, plenty of women," he said.

Nero shook his head, hiding his face in his hands.

"Yeah, right! You get about as much sex as you do money, Dante!" Lady laughed.

"No thanks to you, libido killer!" he hissed with mock anger.

"Dante…who do you think is behind these attacks?" Nero put in quickly, probably hoping to stop the direction the conversation was headed for.

He leaned back against the chair, arms hanging down towards the floor. He shrugged.

"No clue, sport!" he said with a yawn, "If I tried keeping track of the enemies I've made…"

"It would be the same as keeping track of your bills," Lady finished for him.

"You're not helping. Anyways, like I said before, all we can do is wait and see. I already sent Trish to gather what information we can get. With any luck, it might not even be that long of a wait."

Kyrie turned to look at Nero before nodding at Dante again.

"Thank you for taking me in, Dante," she whispered gratefully.

"No prob," he said, "Don't worry about anything. This'll be over soon."

"How can you be sure?" Nero asked.

"Because now that all of us are together in the same place, sooner or later, our mutual friend is going to have to pay us all a visit. By the way…Lady, were you able to find anything?"

Lady leaned her back against the wall next to the table. Even after all the years that he had known her, her clothing style had altered little. She still was a huge tease, wearing short short shorts, and what looked like a jacket with nothing underneath. However, all thoughts of…..whatever a guy's tastes were stopped dead in their tracks after that. She crossed her arms, each movement creating a series of clunking and rattling noises from the bandolier and many pouches she wore at her belt. Kalina Ann, her boomstick, lay only a short distance away against the wall. The same could not be said of the various other weapons she constantly had on her person.

Maybe that was why he never got any from her.

"Information's been sparse," the woman demon hunter confessed, "But from what I was able to get a look at it, it seems these attacks all started when a certain person arrived in the city just two days ago."

"Who's that?" Nero asked, frowning.

"I'm not quite sure. I wasn't able to get much. No pictures, no solid info. Just a name and some rumors. A Ms. Deumos Bontecou. She's rich…and she's been well-known for her powers in many behind- the-scenes organizations."

"Organizations?" Nero replied, casting a confused look at Lady, "What kind of-"

"The secret kind, kid," Dante put in, stretching and cricking his neck where he sat, "The kind that regular people aren't supposed to know about."

"Think of your atypical 'black magic cult' thing," Lady explained more patiently, even doing the air quotes when needed, "Only more underground. Some people get into these groups when they're young. Some are brought in by others. Either way, it usually begins the same way. Curiosity. After that, you start to wonder just what you can accomplish with the demon powers. Eventually, there's no getting out. You're in for good, because you don't even want to leave."

"You sound like you know someone who went through that," Kyrie said softly.

"I did," Lady told her shortly, "My father."

Even Dante let the silence cool the atmosphere for a while before going on. He knew that, even though he was long dead, the topic of Lady's father was a touchy subject.

And he respected that. Because Lady knew he had his own.

Nero reached up to finish the last piece of pizza.

"I've heard of this Ms. Bontecou through the grapevine," Dante mentioned, claiming the piece as his own before the young man could get his hands on it and went on, "Occasionally, you hear about the big shots that fund and aid those types. She's been around for a while."

"Hey, I was gonna eat that!" Nero hissed as he tried to nab the pizza even as Dante brought up to his mouth.

"Not now, boy scout," he said as he took his first, satisfying bite, shooing Nero's hand away, "So she's come to my town. Definitely not a coincidence."

"You think she might be a demon in disguise?" Lady wondered aloud, peering at him from over her sunglasses.

"It wouldn't be the first time. In fact, I bet that's exactly what we're dealing with."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – Mission 1: Nobody Gets Out Alive

Later, when Nero and Kyrie had headed up to their rooms upstairs, Dante sat down at his desk, thinking. The phone rang only once. He picked it up so quickly that the person on the other end only had time enough to ask if this was Devil May Cry before he said they were closed for personal reasons. He casually tossed the phone back into place, barely even noticing.

There was an itch in the back of his head, one that he couldn't figure out.

And for some reason, he found himself staring right at the picture of Eva, his mother. The picture frame was the one well-kept thing he had in the entire office. It was the only thing that didn't show an inch of wear after all the years. He picked it up.

"Something wrong?"

He looked up. Lady had only just reached the door when she noticed him.

"That picture's been there since the day you opened," she said, "But I've never once seen you touch it even once."

"My mother," he responded shortly.

She turned around, one hand holding Kalina Ann, giving him a strange look. Was that worry on her face?

"Dante…you okay?" she whispered, her words barely audible.

"…..Yeah, just a little déjà vu."

Now Loading…

Burning. A world set to flames. Walls and roof and memories alike all turned to ash as the fire continued to grow. Glasses from the windows and dozens of picture frames cracked and exploded outwards. Slowly, everything was dying.

Everything.

A woman stood, beautiful. Her blonde hair flowing as the wind danced about them. Her pale skin reflected the glow from the hell all around them.

…

They stood, locked into place, into time, as if forever. His guns trained on her, ready. She only looked into his eyes.

"Dante…" she began, her words lost then, as though the world had gone still.

Not even the crackling, raging flames made a sound. And then, it all rushed back to him. His eyes widened.

Two gunshots sounded in rapid succession.

Now Loading…

His eyes opened as though he had blinked, and not fallen asleep where he sat. His feet lay propped up against his desk. The office was dark now, the only light coming from the sign outside with a distant, steady hum as the bulb continued to burn. The jukebox glowed dimly in the corner, now silent. The heater below the stairs rattled. Even so, his breath still issued steam as it came from his nostrils.

It was cold. Very, very cold.

_Something's not right._ He sighed. Sooner than he had expected. His enemy must be pretty serious about this vendetta.

Mist was issuing into the office through the bottom of the door, like gentle ice blue clouds. Normally, it might have just been a draft coming through on a cold winter day. Hell, he could even see the snow outside, the night sky pale as the flakes fell to the streets. Just like any other winter night. Except for the demonic presence that was practically screaming bloody murder just at the door.

Dante stretched out his arms where he sat, taking hold of a discarded beer bottle on the desk. Whipping it across the length of the room, it made a beeline straight for the jukebox in the corner and hit one of the buttons. The machine whirred, the records scratched for just a second, and then a heavy metal guitar sounded. Hopefully Nero would take the hint. Frigid temperature, breaking glass, loud music at the obnoxious hour of what looked like three in the morning. If he didn't get that much…

Maybe he and Kyrie had been busy. He stopped. Something felt extremely wrong about that thought.

"Show time," he muttered to himself as his foot began to tap back and forth with the beat.

The mist coming through the doors materialized into the forms of woman. _So these things are what Nero had been talking about. _They were too ethereal to pull off an actual human look. At most, they just looked like more defined ghosts. Each figures long hair floated like steam, ripples in their phantom flesh wavering different parts of their body whenever they walked.

Defined, but not solid. Just specters. And obviously elemental.

"Well, well, well, come on in," Dante spoke in a greeting, chuckling as he did so.

Three of them turned into six, and six quickly turned into a dozen. Soon, he practically had enough of these mist minxes to fill the Playboy Mansion. All he needed was some old fart, a tub full of money, and he could have made an exact image of that, only hellishly.

"I don't remember making booty calls, but I'm not complaining," he went on in the same tone, as he pulled Ebony and Ivory from their holsters in his coat, spinning them on his trigger fingers, "Make yourselves comfortable! It's gonna be a long night!"

The first shots went straight through the figures. They barely had any time at all to react to the weapons. Exactly seven shots tore fist-sized holes in the first two demons, the rest sounding mute screams and disintegrating into fog. So this was what Nero meant. One of them came a little too close and he saw a ghastly gathering of hands reaching for him. Firing another two shots as he pushed himself out of his chair and went flipping into the air, he watched them pass through the fog where the womanly demon should have been. No sound. No sign of injury. So they were invulnerable while in the mist. Which means he had to get them out.

Hoarfrost began to form on the floorboards where the clouds of pale white hovered, spreading out like a lake of wintry blood. His desk and chair received a thick coating as well, icicles forming within seconds. Sonuva bitch. That was his favorite chair. But that also explained the burning that Nero mentioned. Like dry ice. Subfreezing temperatures actually burned the skin. Amplify it enough, and it would even split the skin, maybe even entire bodies.

_Right, so no touchy._ And he still had to draw them out, else this would become a very lethal game of hide and seek.

He smiled.

Keeping up enough gunfire to keep himself covered, Dante only stopped firing with Ebony to flip a single switch on the wall.

It wasn't summer, but some nice air circulation might really help about now. Even if it made the temperature drop another ten degrees. He was starting to shiver.

Just as the fans started to spin, he saw the tops of the clouds shrink away as two of the demons passed under them. He fired without even hesitating a second. The heads blew up. Another two down.

"Dante!" Nero's voice called from above as he appeared at the top of the staircase, which also attracted the attention of every other one of the baddies.

"Damnit, Nero! You're got to learn to be a little more quiet!" he remarked as he leapt across the room, flipping the switch on the giant floor fan he kept to the side in case of unnatural hot summers, brandishing it like a shield, "Haha!"

The nearest of the demons shrank away as the gust of wind from the fan pelted at them, tearing away their defenses. Nero leapt to his side, pulling one in closer with the Devil Bringer, the Red Queen in his other hand, waiting. Hook, line, and sinker. At least he was getting a little better, even if he didn't always think things through. Ebony and Ivory took out the rest, until the only one left was coming straight for him in a frenzy. He whirled in a great circle, his leg outstretched.

"Thank you! You've been wonderful! Good night!" he shouted as his foot connected with the demon's head, sending it spiraling across the room, swiftly following by a pair of shots that sent it exploding on the far wall in a cloud of shaved ice.

The record scratched a final time before the sound went out. The song was over.

"Nero!"

"Kyrie?" Nero cried out, anxiously turning towards the top of the stairs.

The door to the upstairs was only partially shut. And it seemed it would permanently stay that way. Apparently, at least one of the demons had charged Nero after he had so boldly announced his presence and had done its damage. Not to him, but to the office. The door and the wall surrounding it for a good three feet was covered in a thick layer of ice.

"I'm fine!" she called out to them through the narrow gap between the frosty no-longer-entranceway, "What happened?"

Dante turned to Nero.

"Dude, next time…just shoot!"


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Welcome Devil Mary Cry, Now Stationed In The North Pole

"I might as well invite some Eskimos over," Dante grunted the next morning as he walked out of the bathroom, "We could go ice fishing in my toilet."

In short, just about nothing had escaped the touch of the bone-chilling fiends. The wooden flooring was invisibly slick in many places, causing some to randomly trip on occasion. Many objects, such as the jukebox, his drums, desk, pool table, and bathroom looked like they had been kept in a giant storage freezer for five years too long. His chair and couch were stiff as hell, totally uncomfortable, the door to the upstairs needed to be replaced after they had been forced to kick it down. And the worst part was the fridge was busted. Which means all he had were pizza slices that could now double as axe heads and beer for billy clubs.

"You could also start making us all ice cream. I'm starving," Nero put in, and then faded into silence when he noticed Dante's sore mood.

"The worst part is the goddamn heater is busted!" he growled, walking over to it, "Man! I can't even get a break!"

His foot collided with the front panel, causing a size eleven dent to appear, and also a further cla-cla-clunk to sound, glowing briefly orange, before going out again.

"At least they didn't get upstairs," Kyrie said from where she sat on the couch, wrapped in a thick blanket from one of the beds, "Otherwise this place would be completely uninhabitable."

"Wait…it wasn't like that before?" Nero joked a little too soon, earning the doorknob from the former upstairs door in the face.

Dante watched as he skidded across the floor as he fell.

"Ow! What the hell was that for? I'll kill y-" Nero shouted vehemently, picking the second hand throwing projectile up with the Devil Bringer.

"Stop it, both of you!" Kyrie exclaimed angrily, standing up, the blanket falling from about her form.

Both of them cast a glance her way, an instant before ready to go at it. She shivered when the blanket left her defenseless against the cold, and ducked back down to wrap herself up again. She stared from Nero to Dante, giving them each a surprisingly disapproving look. Which only lasted a second before she smiled sweetly at them.

"I'll see if I can get the stove working in the kitchen," she said, nodding as the moment passed, "Then maybe we can get some heat going and some food."

Neither of them said a thing until her footsteps had faded into the kitchen and Dante heard her bustling about.

"Nero…have I ever told you that your girlfriend can be pretty creepy?" he asked.

Now Loading…

An hour or so later, they all sat at the poker table, wrapped up in a variety of blankets and other such items to ward away the cold. Even Dante had taken to wearing a thick woolen blanket, from the bed upstairs he never used, like a cape. Amid the two discarded and crumpled pizza boxes and half a dozen or so beer bottles lay three coffee mugs and empty Styrofoam cups and forks.

"Well, it's not pizza…but it'll do for now," Dante mumbled as he lay back with the back of the chair propped up against the wall.

"Well, when your pantry menu only included cup noodles, potato chips, half-eaten cookies, and ketchup…..what did you expect?" Nero questioned with an incredulous look on his face.

"A strawberry sundae."

"You would. Besides, it's freakin' cold."

"Alright then…pizza."

Both Nero and Kyrie glanced at each other and sighed, lost for words as Dante closed his eyes, the icy chair creaking and tinkling.

"At least we're slowly warming the place up!" Dante put in, ever looking on the bright side.

"It would work even faster if we could get the heater working," Kyrie said, trying to remain just as optimistic.

Nero shook his head.

"Yeah, except geezer here ain't got any dough," he muttered.

"Hey! I'm not-"

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Everyone went quiet for a second, each of them turning around in their seats to stare at the door.

"Who the hell could that be?" Dante wondered aloud, his chair coming back down to the floor with a loud crack.

"Enemies!" Nero hissed, reaching into his coat for the Blue Rose.

"Hang on there, kid! Baddies aren't the type to knock."

"Maybe its Lady," Kyrie remarked, shrugging.

"She's also not the knocking type."

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Knock. Knock.

Knock.

"Dante, I think whoever it is…they're getting impatient," Kyrie suggested, looking straight at him.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he said, reluctantly getting up and heading towards the door, and then called towards the door, "Alright, alright, cool it! I'm coming!"

As soon as he turned the knob and pulled the door open, something about a foot and a half shorter than him slammed into his midsection. He went flying backwards with an "oof!", his boots skidding across the slick floorboards. Nearly flying ass over end, Dante crashed down flat on his back while whoever it was remained latched onto him as if they were glued to his body.

"Dante!" the little ball of energy and blonde hair squealed.

Shaking his head from the bone-jarring collapse, he only managed to look back up enough to see a small face peer right at him. Big blue eyes locked with his. Something in his back wrenched as she tightened her arms around his torso.

"Dante, it's been so long since I've seen you!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, excited, "You've grown a beard! You must be getting old!"

"Hi, Patty," he let out in a breath, regaining some air in his lungs as the girl let him go, "Long time no see…"

"I'm sorry! Mommy and me have been away to Europe! We just got back…"

Dante had just sat up, stretching just in case any ribs had popped out of place when he had been practically tackled. Looking up once Patty's voice trailed off, he saw her eyes widening at the carnage that was now Devil May Cry. Once she had seen enough, her gaze coming full circle(and somehow ignoring the other two), she glared at Dante in a fiery rage.

"…Dante.." she seethed, her fists clenching at her sides, while she seemed about ready to transform into a fire-breathing dragon in any second.

"Yeah?" he replied, his eyebrows raised.

"Why. Can't. You. Keep. This. Place. Clean?" she roared, producing much the same effect of a small atomic explosion within the frozen office.

"Whoa! Is it my fault I got attacked last night?"

The monster that was Patty suddenly transitioned back to the sweet little girl that had rocketed through the doorway. She knelt down beside him with beady eyes.

"Attacked? Oh, I'm sorry! What happened?" she said in a mere whisper, her hands clasped before her.

"Godfather Santa came for a visit and had his mafia elves ice the place over," he commented sarcastically, rolling his eyes, "What do you think? Demons."

"Oh, my God!"

Dante finally managed to stand once he was reasonably sure that Patty was slightly more calm than only a moment earlier. Having his first chance to have a good look at her, he was oddly surprised by what he saw.

It had been some time since he had last seen her. He had met Patty Lowell on a mission given to him by one of his work agent friends. At the time, she was being hunted by demons sent by a group of men who claimed that she was the sole inheritor of some grand fortune. While it had not turned out to be true, and Patty had been an orphan the entire time, Dante had gotten landed with the responsibility of taking care of her for about a month or two. It was only after defeating some big-shot wannabe half-demon who stole Abigail's power that Patty had met her real mother.

Shortly after, Dante left on a mission with Trish and Lady, and had been gone for a year. During that time, he received a letter saying that her mother had taken Patty to Europe for school.

That was…years ago.

The girl that stood before him now was taller then he remembered. Her long legs stuck out from the plaid dress she wore along with a simple, white button shirt under her bright pink weather coat. Her shoes looked pristine, as did her hair, despite having bum-rushed him earlier. Apparently, Patty was still a neat freak. She seemed to slowly be making her way into adolescence. Her wrists were absolutely covered by what seemed like a hundred bracelets of random colors, and her backpack was black with dozens of patches and pins, displaying the flags of many European countries on them.

_She really has grown up. A little. _

"Patty, I want you to meet two friends of mine," he said, pointing across the way to Nero and Kyrie, who were just now standing up, "Nero and Kyrie."

"Hi there," Nero said, cheerfully, waving his left hand while keeping the Devil Bringer hidden behind his back for the time being.

He would have to break that to her later.

"Hello," Kyrie said as she bowed, looking back up at Patty, "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Patty answered just as happily.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – This One's Mine

"Don't worry, I'll have the place ready in no time!" Patty called joyfully as she slammed the door on the office as Dante and Nero climbed down the steps and into the street.

"Yeah, and it probably won't even look like the same place," Nero grunted as they crossed the street, all but ignoring the red light and the moving cars.

There are not many souls brave enough to even honk their horns at two white-haired men packing heat and overly large steel. As it was, they both navigated their way through the steady stream of traffic without interrupting even the most lead-footed of motorists or causing any accidents. Lucky for the drivers. Not for them. The drivers.

"Where are we going anyways, Dante?" Nero asked him as they reached the other side of the street, turning left and heading down an alley.

"The library," he said shortly.

"Then we're going the wrong way."

"Not that library, kid. The other one. The Forbidden Library."

"Huh?"

He wasn't surprised that Nero was confused. That library wasn't exactly publicized. No street signs or ads could get you there. Hell, they probably didn't even have a website on the internet. But to anyone who was involved with demons, whether they were the hunters, the hunted, or something in-between, they knew how to find it.

It was nearly twenty minutes before they found their way through the labyrinth of alleyways and shortcuts and saw it. At first, it seemed like nothing more than a one floor building that had been put up for condemning. The windows were boarded up, graffiti ran rampant, and the structure didn't seem to have received the right treatment in about a decade or so. In other words, it was the perfect hiding spot for such a place. Dante wasn't even phased when he opened the door to the sight of hundreds of shelves, books crammed together in them while others lay in stacks about five feet off the floor. The thick smell of old paper and leather filled the air. Nero sneezed.

"Welcome to the library, junior!" Dante said in a mock exuberant tone, holding his arms out as though the glory of some god had been laid out before them, "Let's go."

"Dante, what are you looking for here?" Nero asked as they passed a lonely woman at a desk off to the side, a decrepit monitor, pc, and keyboard right in front of her.

"Information."

"But…you don't seem to the type to read."

"I don't. I usually send Lady or Trish here when I need something."

"Lazy a….wait a sec! Didn't you say that Trish was looking for info yesterday? Where the hell is she?"

"Exactly."

"You think she's here."

"Maybe. If not, then I think it's safe to say that something's gone wrong."

"What if-"

"Don't worry, sport. She can take care of herself."

They had passed what seemed to be hundreds of shelves, thousands of books and even scrolls, and still they had not stopped. And even so, there were still more to go. This library seemed to have no end. When Dante took a turn to the right, he suddenly stopped at a single shelf, running his finger across the various spines, reading the titles.

"Let's see…Demons of the Hells," he murmured to himself as Nero gave him a puzzled look at his side, "That's for amateurs. Summonings, Spellcraft, and Seduction...definitely not what we're looking for. The History of Damnation. Nah! The Circles. Too simplistic. Dark Magic. Nope! The Annals of the Demonic Wars. Boring! The Complete Idiot's Guide to Demon Slaying."

"What?" Nero exclaimed, perhaps a little too noisily for a library.

"Joking," Dante said in a hushed tone, and continued, "Encyclopedia Demonica. This might have it."

The book was old. _Really old. Really, really, really old_. Seriously. It looked like it might have been around for the past couple centuries. And it had probably been rewritten before that. Dante flipped it open, dust flying up in a cloud as he turned through the actually parchment pages. That's how old it was. Honest.

"What are you looking for, Dante?" Nero whispered, looking around them, studying many of the titles on the books.

"A name," he replied as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You came all the way here for a name?"

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Because, once you know the demon's name, if they've been around the block enough, you can get the down low on them."

Dante stopped as soon as he found the name he was looking for. Turning to the prescribed page, he then handed the book to Nero after a minute.

"That's what we're dealing with," he told him, turning back around the way they had come.

"Deumos! The woman you were talking about yesterday?" Nero hissed in confusion.

"Yeah."

"You mean, you knew all this time?"

"I needed to refresh my memory a little."

Nero sighed behind him. No doubt he wouldn't get it. But Dante did. His hunch had been right after all.

Now Loading…

The first thing that greeted their return was Patty handed Dante what looked like a billing statement. He groaned to himself as he climbed up the stairs and walked into a pleasantly warmer Devil May Cry. Casting a glance to the corner, he saw the heater, cleaned and glowing, going again. Without making a sound, mind.

"What's this?" he asked, though he already knew exactly what it was.

"The bill," Patty said nonchalantly, from where she now sat at his desk, in his chair, "I swear, Dante! The reason you get yourself into debt is because you never take care of your money. Or your place. I had someone come over and fix it."

"Thanks for not asking, Patty," he growled tossing the bill on the shiny surface of his desk, bereft of leftover pizza boxes, crumbs, and bottles, "But the reason I get into debt is because of people like her!"

Lifting up his left arm, he pointed accusingly at Lady, who was standing by the staircase with her arms crossed. Normally, he would have thought she would wear slightly different clothing, considering the weather. He noted the black wool coat hanging on the railing. She shrugged where she stood, giving him a small smile.

"You owe me," she stated simply.

Nero snorted. Which was dully ignored.

"Except that debt never seems to get smaller, no matter how much I do for you," Dante snarled, irritated, "In fact…unless I'm in up to my neck, I think my 'debt' to you has gotten bigger!"

Without waiting for a reply, he wanted around the desk, shooing Patty away from his chair. He sat down with a moist plop. It was damp, but at least it wasn't hard and uncomfortable. His throne was his again. All hail. The surface was too clean, so he ran his hands over it for a few seconds.

"I need a beer," he moaned as he leaned back, propping his legs up in their usual spot, instantly feeling his comfort level sky rocket.

"Oh…I dumped it all out, Dante," Patty said as she pulled one of the other chairs to the desk to sit at his left.

"Why?"

"Because it's yucky!"

He sighed. Pounding down on the desk with a foot, the phone went sailing into the air. Everyone watched as he caught it and dialed in a number.

"What're you doing?" Patty questioned, suspicious already.

"Ordering a pizza," he said to her, then to the phone, "Yeah, it's me. The usual. Got it. Put it on my…..oh! Fine, come by and I'll pay you."

The phone went flying back to its place. Everyone stared as Dante opened up the drawer on his right and pulled out a small stack of bills. And he thoroughly enjoyed the look on everyone's face as he pulled out enough to pay for the damn heater and his pizza. He placed it back in the drawer with a smile.

"You're actually going to pay?" Lady chuckled, "How about you give me-"

"No!" he cut her off with a resounding negative, "Not until I've restored my good humor with fine Italian cuisine."

"I also got you a new fridge," Patty said, pointing towards the kitchen, "And Kyrie went out shopping."

Dante didn't say a damn thing.

Nero looked absolutely dumbfounded. Whether this was because of Dante's silence or because he was actually going to pay his bills for once in his life, he did not know. Kyrie suddenly came into the office wearing an apron and carrying a pan. Dante sniffed the air. _Oh!_ And suddenly, the angels sang out in an immaculate chorus…

"I think we all deserve something sweet so…I made some cookies," she said as he laid the cooling pan down on the desk right beside Dante.

"Kyrie…have I ever told you what an angel you are?" he asked as he picked up a handful of cookies for himself.

_Okay, so maybe my mood will improve a little. _

Now Loading…

"So, what were you able to find?" Lady asked as soon as the others had left them alone for enough time for them to talk.

Dante looked up, looked dead in her eyes. One of her eyebrows rose, no doubt from the look on his face. He felt his jaw tighten.

"Stay out of this one, Lady," he told her solidly.

"What? Why?" she replied, trying not to attract the attention of the others, "If you think you're going to-"

"Lady."

His voice had gone cold.

"I'm telling you…this is my business," he said, glaring up at her, "This one's mine."


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – Mission 2: Winter Wonderland, Not So Wonderful

"Take her home, will ya?" Dante told Nero after they had all eaten and night was beginning to fall.

"Why?" Nero asked, frowning.

"Yeah, Dante! Why?" Patty put in right after him, leaning over the end of the desk to stare at him, troubled.

He shook his head.

"Because there's a good chance that we might be attacked again tonight," he explained shortly, "And I don't want you here if that's gonna happen."

"But…but…"

"No more buts, Patty. I'll see you tomorrow."

"You'd better!"

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"That Dante!" Patty grumbled to herself from beside Nero as they walked down the street, heading for her house about a mile away, "He's such a meany!"

Nero smiled.

"He just cares about you," he remarked truthfully, crossing his arms as they continued down the street, "And he's right. You shouldn't be there if we're attacked again."

"But you are!" she cried, pointing up at him, "And Kyrie is!"

"Kyrie has nowhere else to stay. And besides, she's got me."

He jerked a thumb towards himself with his left hand. He still hadn't managed to break it to the kid that his right arm was slightly…well, different. Even now, he kept the sleeve of his coat down, the Devil Bringer securely hidden in his pocket but from the dim, translucent blue glow. People tended to be…temperamental when it came to his arm. Hell, even the people of Fortuna Island, his friends, had been antagonistic when they finally found out about it. And he had known them all of his life.

"But who does Dante got?" she retorted in a pout.

He sighed. She might still be a girl. But she had a point. In a lot of ways, Dante was a loner. Sure, Trish stayed with him at Devil May Cry. Lady stopped by every other day or so whenever she needed something, or could toss some help their way. He was currently being 'trained' by Dante. And Kyrie was in hiding until this whole matter was over.

Yeah, sure, he hung out with a bunch of people. But at the same time, he didn't really have those people. They were friends and that's all. Dante never really seemed to step outside from behind that wall he put up around himself all the time. His daily life and routines were and would continue to be the same whether they were around or not. He would sit in his office, eat pizza, drink beer, listen to the jukebox, answer the phone, never pay off his debt, and take on only the missions that we interesting to him. Every once and a while, he'd take a piss, practice on his drums or guitar, shower. And maybe, to kill time, he'd play pool, go out, sleep. He didn't necessarily need them. Their presence was not required.

Now that he thought about it, Dante didn't have anyone. And maybe that was his choice. Certainly, some part of him cared for people. It might be deep down, but that much was clear. Sometimes it seemed that, as much as he wanted to keep others at bay, he wanted them just as close.

Maybe even Dante didn't know what he wanted.

_But how do you tell a fourteen year old girl that?_ Even he didn't quite understand sometimes. Like, how does a person even get like that? Dante couldn't have been that way all the time.

"Don't worry about him, Patty," he said, looking down at her, "Me and Lady and Trish have his back! Nothing's gonna happen to him."

Patty bowed her head. Slowly, she nodded.

"Thanks Nero," she said quietly.

"No problem," he told her with shrug.

He nearly bumped into a person in front of him as soon as they came to complete stop in the middle of the sidewalk. Nero wheeled backwards a step or two, throwing his balance to stop from colliding heads with them.

"Watching where you're going, you jerk!" Patty shouted upwards towards the man, who seemed to be paying no attention whatsoever to them.

Nero saw why.

"Hey, I'm talking to you-" she started up again, until Nero clamped a hand over her mouth and began to pull her back.

A crowd had gathered near the corner of one of the tall skyscrapers, the old fashioned kind, made of brick and mortar instead of steel and lots and lots of windows. The snow had stopped for once, leaving a fine covering on everything before them. Icicles dripped from awnings, street lights, the bottoms of cars, and even the high up roofs. And that thing.

The body was made completely of ice, carved in the rough shape of a man. Appearing barely as tall as he was, it stood motionless, its blank face staring off into the distance. But even Nero didn't need to get a closer look to know that what he was looking at was another demon.

"Run for it!" he whispered to Patty.

The girl only took enough time to look up at him before taking off, Nero falling into place right behind her. They dashed by the confused onlookers, Nero shouldering his way through the crowd to clear enough space for Patty and him.

A crystalline moan sounded from behind them. The demon was following. And it probably wasn't alone.

The people who had stopped to study it fled in all directions, many of them straying into the street to take their slippery chances among dodging traffic. Others skidded across the slick pavement, drawing blood where it met with skin, all of them quickly recovering and running again, panicked cries echoing in the air. Nero took a hold of Patty's coat with his left hand and practically flung her into a nearby alleyway.

_There's no chance of civilians getting hurt this time._ Carrying Patty to the dead end in the back, Nero turned around, drawing the Red Queen from his back and withdrawing his right hand. Stabbing his sword into the cement for only a moment long enough to uncover the Devil Bringer, he heard Patty gasp behind him. He turned his head to look at her, a smile on his lips.

"Don't worry," he told her, "You'll be fine."

The call of the demon multiplied as one appeared at the open end of the alley. People and cars whizzed by behind it. So it had come for them. _Good._ Here, they could only come at him straight, they couldn't surround him, and this would ensure that no one else got hurt. Nero grasped the Red Queen in his hands, giving a twist of his wrist and revved the sword's motor, a red glow appearing at its hilt.

"Come on then!" he called out a challenge as about ten other of the same demons crowded into the entrance of the alley.

They were fast. Very fast. But Nero could follow them easily enough. They weren't nearly as bad as some of the other foes he had faced while on Fortuna Island. The only thing they seemed to have was their speed. And while they were his size, their figures were strangely frail. They couldn't be that strong.

The first one reached him just as he swung the Red Queen, cleaving the ice monster in half before it could make a move. The top half flew straight into the wall, shattering like glass as the confused and undirected legs flailed about. He stooped to pick them up, chucking them at the next demon to come at him, both blowing up into useless shards. The third met with his sword. He blinked.

_Was that a shield it was carrying? _

Its arm morphed back into the jutting limb it had been before, and stayed still for only a second before changing into that of a wide tipped point.

_Oh. So they could do that too!_

Grabbing a hold of the demon with the Devil Bringer before the lance could reach him, he swung it at its fellows until it and about five others had collapsed into the same tiny fragments that riddled the ground at his feet. The next he cut right in half from head to crotch with his sword, giving the Red Queen another rev as a trio of the ice stickmen came at him. Each of them broke, flying high into the brick wall above their heads. He heard Patty cry out as she shielded herself from the falling pieces of ice.

The last one comically looked around at its fallen comrades before even moving an inch. Nero chuckled to himself as the scrawny legs shook as it turned and fled. It was only three seconds before he withdrew the Blue Rose, sheathing the Red Queen at his back, and fired. The head vanished as the twin bullets pierced it through.

"Well, that wasn't too bad!" he said, spinning the magnum before returning it to its place at his side, spinning around to wave Patty back over to him with a smile, "No sweat! Come on, let's get outta here."

Something tinkled like a bell behind him. His eyes widened. _No, it couldn't be._

He whirled just in time to see a huge block of ice come rushing towards them. Springing up into the air with Patty clutched in his arms, Nero rebounded off the wall and landed on the other side of the lumbering beast. He looked up and saw it. Standing nearly fifty feet tall, its giant feet thundered against the ground as it noticed them, its head tiny in comparison to the rest of its body, which seemed to be made up of tiny….

"Shit!" he swore under his breath.

_So that's why those things were so easy to kill. _

The alley just got more crowded.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – The Man Who Looks Like Dante

There's no way they were going to last long in a confined space like this with junior Winter Hulk. Nero decided to make himself and Patty scarce. Somehow managing to go into an all-out sprint without tripping over the ice or his own feet, he just cleared the alley as another of the Godzilla-sized hands made a nice dent in the brick wall that they had stood by only seconds ago.

_So much for people not getting hurt! _

As soon as those who had not taken the hint and fled earlier saw the ogre chasing after the man and girl, they surely must have reconsidered. Even cars came to a screeching halt as the no longer pint-sized demon made its way into the street, each step crushing a car easier. Many of the people just left their cars and escaped with their lives, while the stupid ones insisted on trying to excavate their vehicles from what had soon become a treacherous parking trap. About half were lucky enough not to become very bloody and gory pancakes.

"Gotta get to open space!" Nero cursed as he ran with Patty in his arms.

"The park's two blocks away!" the girl exclaimed to him as she poked her head up over his shoulder to see better, "Go right!"

He didn't even take the time to stop, allowing his feet slid to a jerking stop before whirling and heading in the said direction.

"No, wait! I mean, left!" she cried.

"Patty!" he growled as he performed a second spin just as what looked like a Ford went just passed their heads, thrown by their pursuer.

"Sorry!"

A second automobile throwing projectile took out the corner street light just behind them, its frame issuing a groan as it keeled over. Not even bothering with trying to plow his way through the crowded sidewalks of innocent and unknowing bystanders, Nero leapt to the top of a car and hopped to the next and the next. The loud, teeth-rattling booms could only mean the demon was following them quickly.

Setting off one or two car alarms along the way, they finally made it to the park.

It hadn't occurred to either of them that there would still be children present at this time of year.

They were snowball fighting, building forts. And they had no clue of what was going on. Nero froze, forgetting the demon, and let Patty fall to the ground.

"Run! Get outta here!" he roared just as they must have seen the gigantic figure appear from the street behind him.

They scattered, and that was all he saw before he felt a splitting headache erupt and his vision went black.

Now Loading…

He stood atop the nearest building, watching the brutal demon thunder its way to its fallen foe. The girl remained, her legs useless, having given out once she saw her friend nearly flattened by a street lamp used like a club. Even from here, he could see the red stain on his white hair, a wound that, while it would undoubtedly heal, would leave him unconscious and unable to protect either himself or the girl for a long time. Too long.

He went into action, jumping down from the five story apartment without so much as a single worry flicking through his mind. The landing didn't even jolt him. He felt nothing at all. His coat only billowed out as the air rushed from under it with a clap. In the demons wake, he did not even have to worry about a single person or vehicle coming at him. Not even the police had responded to the presence of the demon. He knew they wouldn't. Hell was not in their jurisdiction. Nor did they have the means to combat it. Hell was left for the demon hunters.

One monstrous fist was pulled back, ready to crush the life out of the girl and the young man she cradled in her arms, not even stirring. Her wide eyes stared up at her fate with fear. She thought she was going to die.

Now Loading…

A single flash went before her eyes. She flinched, thinking that this was the end. Patty tensed, quivering in place, a small squeak sounding from her lips.

Nothing happened.

She opened a single eye. And gasped.

The block of ice that had been the hand of the demon was gone. In fact, it lay on the ground, buried about half way through. _What…_

And suddenly, the demon was sliding into pieces as numerous lines appeared across its form. It did not even make a sound as it was shredded beyond recognition, crumbling like a glass under foot.

It was only then that she saw him. He looked right at her, his eyes like the same cold she felt with the season. Only a glance and that was all. A chill went down her spine.

She hadn't even seen what he had done to it.

"Tell Dante…that he knows where to find me," he said before he simply walked away as though nothing had taken place.

Patty remained there for a very long time. Even when the ambulance and the police did show up some time later, red and blue lights flashing all around the streets, unaware of the now stirring and mumbling Nero and herself, she was stuck in the same spot.

_That man…..he looked just like Dante. _


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 – Mission 3: Another Touching Family Reunion

The steps to the tallest tower of the cathedral were almost endless. He thought he might lose about a week's worth of pizza in weight before he reached the top. In truth, he had been here only one time before. Way back when, before the cathedral had even been built. Back when his brother had risen the tower of Temen-ni-gru at this exact spot.

That was more than thirty years ago now.

A sigh escaped him as he saw the doorway.

"Finally!" he gasped as he nudged it open with his foot, "Do you have an obsession with being high up? Or do you just like looking down at people?"

Snow was falling, creating mounds of white on the floor of the tower, open to the air. The sky remained unchanged from day to night now, as it continued to fall. Even if it was around midnight. His footsteps crunched as he walked forward. The man on the opposite side of the tower turned his head to glance at him. He didn't even bother to move more than that. A white, winged dragon was emblazoned on the back of his coat.

"Neither," the man said in an honest by edged tone, "I just prefer privacy when it comes to family matters."

"Huh! And here I thought it was some superiority complex!" Dante let out in an exasperated breath, shrugging.

The man turned fully around, both of his hands resting on a cane. He wore a blue coat that tapered at the waist, several buttons holding it shut across his chest while the tails split behind his back, floating in the air with the breeze. Black gloves covered his hands, black boots on his feet. His white hair was slicked back as always, though was longer than he remembered. Cold eyes studied him with vicious intent behind a serene calm. The cane was plainly black, a single silver cap at either end, a ring around the edge of the grip, a tassel hanging off the top.

Silence followed. And it didn't seem to phase either one of them. Both of the men stared at each other with the same eyes, even the same expression. It was uncanny.

But who would not have expected that?

"Hardly," the man replied curtly, "You don't seem surprised to know that I'm alive."

Dante stepped off to the left, starting to pace leisurely.

"We're twin brothers," he remarked with the same, nonchalant voice, "We'd both know if the other had died. Besides, I didn't kill you back on Mallet Island."

"Indeed," was all the other said.

"The only thing I want to know is…why are you here?"

The other did not appear to have even heard the question. He didn't give away any reaction at all.

Dante drew his sword, already charging forward and slashing. A clash of steel sounded between them. The man had all but appeared before him in a flash, no movement apparent to the normal, naked eye. How such a thin blade, maybe only a little more than an inch wide, could stand up to Rebellion was beyond him.

"Do you still want to settle our duel, Vergil?" Dante asked with only a slight strain as the blade in his brother's hand pressed against the edge of Rebellion.

Vergil's steady, even glare all but burned lines through the air at him. The swords locked between them began to hiss, smoke rising as they began to glow.

"You should know, Dante…I'm the only one who can kill you," he stated shortly.

They broke apart within the blink of an eye and met again as their swords clashed, sounding like thunder from the heavens. Even the air seemed sliced in two as each stroke met with the blade of the other's weapon, an oppressive aura surrounding both of the twins, bathing them in it. Not even the greatest human warrior could see what attacks passed between them. It was beyond their sight.

A second time, the swords clanged, sparks flying as they pressed against one another.

"You've gotten faster, brother," Vergil said with a malicious smirk.

"So have you," Dante answered without so much as a hint of humor or happiness.

The next break lasted even shorter than the first, and it was only a breath's time they locked swords again. Each blade, Rebellion and Vergil's sword, all but screamed now in protest.

"Why the hero act?" Dante asked, for once troubled that he could not understand what was going through his brother's head, "Why save Nero and Patty? I didn't think you cared so much!"

Even thirty years ago, when he had threatened the whole world with chaos and destruction only like they had known before their father, Sparda, he had gotten that. He had understood Vergil's reasons for it all along. Their fight then had not been over some misunderstanding. They had stood against each other, fully knowing and comprehending each other. Just as twins should.

But now, for only the second time in their lives, there was gray between them. Clouds. Dante could not see it. Why had he saved them?

Disentangling himself from Dante, Vergil made a series of slashes that each met with a parry. Backing up a step, holding his sword out towards his brother, Vergil remained standing completely still while Dante stayed rooted to the spot, ready and waiting.

"They are of no consequence," his brother stated coldly.

"You're lying!" Dante shouted back, and for the first time that he had known his brother was still alive, he felt real anger at him, "You've done it more than once! What's so important that you would go out of your way to protect it?"

He sprang at him, Vergil unmoving as always, waiting. A simple block kept Rebellion's tip from even grazing a hair on his twin's head. When his brother's hand sped forward and connected with his chest, sending his spinning back through the snowy air, he reached into his coat and drew Ivory, firing off a dozen shots before he even landed on his knees. Vergil came rushing in, avoiding each path of the bullets as though they were not even there. Propelling himself upwards, Dante's legs windmilling as he went, he pushed himself into the air again, firing another two shots. Vergil followed his every move. Their swords met again, and his brother's sword even managed to deflect Ivory's barrel away from his face.

"It's Nero, isn't it?" Dante asked in a mere whisper.

_Bull's eye. _

Something flashed across Vergil's eyes. For a second, they changed from the same silvery blue as his own to blood red. It was the only thing that betrayed his brother's reaction to his words. Not even his expression had changed. But the destructive aura and the strength that surged through Vergil was enough to send Dante speeding back towards the floor of the tower.

He landed in a cloud of white, snow kicking up everywhere as he landed. A bright flash, a ribbon of blue light.

The floor of the tower was slashed cleanly through, bricks, steel, wood, and all. The gash stretched a quarter of the way across the surface, ending where it had sliced straight through the stained glass window a floor below. Dante whistled from a safe distance away, comfortably perched on top of the wall.

"Was it something I said?" he commented with mock innocence, leaning forward to gaze at Vergil from across the tower once more.

"How did you know?" his brother asked as the snow finally settled back down to the floor.

"Not a hard guess. The kid didn't come from me, that's for sure!"

Silence enveloped them again. Only the wind gave any sound to their world. Dante took a deep breath. For the first time since...Vergil had let himself become trapped in the demon world, he didn't want this fight to continue. Then again, had he ever? Truly?

"What happened, Vergil?" he asked in a quieter tone, maybe like he had used to speak to his brother before they had been caught up their blood feud.

"It's none of your concern," his brother told him as he made a lightning fast leap up to Dante's seat and struck.

Dante evaded this time, not even bothering to counter. He landed on the floor of the tower once more, his sword at his side as he replaced Ivory in his coat.

"Like Hell, it isn't!" he chided, pointing up at Vergil, "He's my nephew. I think that makes it my business."

He looked around, noticed the strewn footsteps and deep arcs in the snow from their fight, as well as the damage done to the tower. The wind was howling.

"Although, this is hardly the place for a heart to heart," he confessed, chuckling light-heartedly.

Vergil only stared at him.

"If it's a brotherly discussion you want, why don't you begin?" Vergil suggested vehemently, jumping down from the wall, his sword flashing in the dim light, "Why don't you tell me why you had to kill our mother?"

Dante sighed. Somehow, he knew that was going to come up. Eventually.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he replied with a grave honesty that was only there long enough for him to shake his head before he looked back up at Vergil and turned around, heading for the door, "Listen…if you really want to know, come by Devil May Cry tomorrow. I won't say a peep to Nero. That's your job to tell him. And then, you'll have your answers soon enough."

"No," Vergil said.

"Then I guess you'll never know why I had to go and kill mom."


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – An Awkward Meeting

The equivalent of a nuclear bomb erupted as soon as Vergil came through the doors of Devil May Cry. Dante had held no doubts that his brother would eventually make his way over to the office. If he really wanted the answers he sought, he knew his twin would come.

That, and this would also allow him to protect his son, which he had apparently started taking up in such a peachy way. Even if Nero had no idea who he was or why Vergil had saved him. And knowing Vergil, that part of the story would remain a mystery to the kid until his father was ready to spill the beans. And knowing Vergil, that would be years from now. If ever. No doubt his brother felt at least some duty to protect the spawn of his loins. Whether or not that included informing said spawn of who's daddy remained to be seen. Either way, though, we knew Vergil would make an appearance. He knew it in his bones.

Now, what Dante had not expected was for Lady to be there that same morning. At first, he had thought nothing of it. In hindsight, he realized just how stupid that could have been. Devil May Cry might have been turned into a crater in about zero point three seconds. As soon as the door swung open, revealing Vergil, Lady went berserk. The last of her memories concerning his twin had not been beautiful ones. Her eyes widened as she saw him walking slowly towards the desk. And, of course, having former experience with him and knowing exactly what he was, she went right for Kalina Ann.

Obviously, the entire building's fate and his insurance and remaining, yet salvageable financial history, hung in the balance of a trigger-happy demon slayer. And a women, whose like fury Hell hath no. Oh, shit.

Needless to say, Dante got to the instrument of their collective demise first. Dangling the cannon above his head so Lady could not reach, he pushed her back down into the chair she had been sitting at until his brother had made his grand entrance.

"Oh, no, no, no! You stay there, little lady," he cooed, earning a look that told him he'd probably receive many beatings later for that statement before she eyed Vergil with a dangerous look.

His brother, aloof as always, only raised an eyebrow when he saw the display taking place before him. Resting both hands on the top of his cane, he stood tall, his gaze moving right to Dante.

"What's he doing here?" Lady spat proverbial venom from where she sat as Dante securely placed her bazooka some ten feet away from her.

"I invited him here," he said simply, shrugging, and earning a look of horror from Lady, and utter bewilderment from Nero, Kyrie, Patty, "Oh, by the way, Nero, Nero's main squeeze….this is my brother, Vergil. You remember Lady. Patty you've already met."

"For a while," Patty murmured as she looked around at the collection of looks that Vergil was receiving and held out a hand to him and added cheerfully, "Pleased to meet you! And thank you for saving us yesterday!"

_Bless Patty and her innocent goodwill._ Even if he wasn't always on the receiving end of it. For a moment, he didn't even think Vergil had heard her words. He looked down at the hand for a very long time before moving his own and giving it a brief shake before returning to his former, frozen stance. Kyrie waved her hand with a hesitant smile on her face. It did not take long for the others to notice that Vergil's eyes were locked onto Nero, who stood beside Kryie. Dante held his breath.

"Yo!" the young man said, holding up his left hand in a greeting.

And he let it out. _Nero…_

Vergil only nodded in reply, his mouth not even moving. His eyes flashed as he stared at Nero for only a fraction of a second longer before turning to Dante. Was that…fear in his brother's eyes?

"I've come for your answer," his brother informed him in his usual, nearly perfectly stoic voice.

_Nope. Couldn't have been fear. Not a chance. In Earth or Hell._ _This is Vergil, after all._

With the tensions in the room no longer threatening an apocalyptic overload, Dante eased his way back into his chair, leaning back with his feet propped up as usual. He looked at Vergil, who impassively kept an even gaze, waiting. Maybe not patiently, but waiting nonetheless.

"I'm afraid you're a little early for that," he told him, sighing, "Trish hasn't reported back yet. I'm beginning to wonder if maybe something's happened. She rang yesterday and said she would return today. And, obviously, she's late."

"Then I'm going," Vergil said coolly, already turning around.

"You sure? I promised you answers. If you walk out now, I might not have a chance to show them to you."

"Is this so complicated that you can't explain it?"

"Like I said, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Both of the twins eyes locked across the room, and it appeared that each of them were trying to stare the other down. The minutes ticked by with an excruciating slowness; every sound, music, breath, everything seemed dimmed. No one else dared to say a word and break the silence. Only Lady even twitched where she sat, perhaps to move her hands closer to the baker's dozen of other weapons she kept on herself. Finally, Dante only moved his leg. The phone went flying into the air.

"I'm hungry," he explained shortly before speed dialing the pizza place he always ordered from.

Vergil didn't say a word as Dante ordered his typical garbage pizza. The only thing he did do was take a seat in the back corner of the office, setting his cane beside the chair and folding his hands before him.

Boy, this is getting awkward.

"Man, we need some strippers," Dante muttered as he tossed the phone back.

Lady gave him a perplexed look.

"Why?" she growled.

"Perfect way to get comfortable."

Now Loading…

Trish came waltzing after about three hours of the same, nail-biting quiet. Everyone seemed to be minding their own business, afraid that there might be some death penalty for speaking too much in front of their new acquaintance. The whole time, Vergil sat in the chair, motionless, his eyes focusing on nothing and everything. He was surely aware of everything going on around him. He just didn't seem to care. Dante reluctantly split his pizza between them all, his brother declining without saying a word. After some time, Nero started to play pool with himself and Kyrie quickly busied herself in the kitchen. Only Lady remained in the same vicinity as the twins, just as strangely speechless.

Of course, only Dante acted as though nothing was wrong. He still ate his pizza, drank beer, answered the phone when he felt like it, and even poked fun at Nero.

The blonde women dressed in black caught the attention of every single person in the office. Even Vergil raised an eyebrow as she strode over to the desk and leaned over to speak with Dante. Before she could utter a single word, he held up a hand, telling her to stop.

"First off….where have you been?" he asked, not exactly worried, but not exactly pleased either.

She shrugged.

"I've been tailing Ms. Demon like you told me," Trish replied, placing both of her pistols on the desk off to the right, "She was surprisingly hard to track down."

"Okay, I'll give you that," he said with a tilt of his head, "Find anything."

"Just where she's staying, where she goes, the general idea of what she's up to, and who she's keeping contact with."

"Really?"

Trish nodded with a mischievous smile.

"I'd love to hear how you found all that out," Dante teased, falling forward in his seat to take the last piece of pizza from the box.

"Maybe some other time," Trish remarked in a…well, let's just say that Dante pants probably became very uncomfortable in a certain area, "Who's your friend?"

Both of them turned to look at Vergil, who, surprisingly, stood up so quick that he might have never been sitting at all. His hand snapped to his cane, the end tapping against the floorboards as it came to a rest before him. Something about that stance, the way his shoulders tensed, seemed almost defensive. His eyes flicked over Trish for a mere second before returning to Dante. He didn't say a word.

And he didn't have to. The disgust in his eyes was enough.

"Trish, this is Vergil," Dante said, waving a hand to his brother, "You've met before…though I doubt you…"

"I remember," his twin cut his off sharply.

Dante really couldn't blame him for that. For two reasons. One, Trish and Vergil had been puppets of Mundus some years back on Mallet Island. Whatever had taken place there before his arrival, Trish had never said. And his brother, now on meeting an old…associate, seemed just as mute to the subject. Two…and probably the most likely, was that Trish looked like their mother.

And not just a little. Exactly like her. It had been another Mundus' crafty plans.

If it was at all possible, the air in the office seemed to become even more oppressive. The source being Vergil. It was almost as if a small rumble was beginning just outside of hearing. It passed without event only an instant later when Vergil bowed his head.

"You could say that me and my brother here are kinda in a hurry, Trish," Dante continued as if nothing at all had passed, "We need to know everything."

"Alright," she said, sitting down on the desk to face both of the brothers as well as Lady and Nero, who had come to join them, "Deumos is smart, smarter than your average devil. She never makes a move unless she's planned it ahead. You might have seen it already."

"The elemental demons, eighth and ninth plane," Dante put in, finishing his pizza with a final crunch, "Some real scary baddies."

"What are you talking about?" Nero asked, giving them both a confused look.

"Listen well, grasshopper. There are nine circles of Hell."

"I know that."

"Okay, smartass! Did you know the last two weren't hot, but cold?"

Nero paused, frowning.

"Exactly," Dante exclaimed, pointing at him.

"Why does that make a difference?" Nero questioned, still unsure of what Dante was getting at.

"Demons from the frozen plains are harder to summon," Vergil explained suddenly, causing just about everyone, except Dante, to jump, "The farther down in the circles you go, the more strain there is to pull them up. Also…using them in the winter like this…"

"It makes 'em more powerful than normal," Dante finished, nodding to his brother, "Thanks, Verge!"

"Why would that make them more powerful?" Nero went on, still bewildered.

"If you summon an ice demon and drop them in Hawaii, how long do you think they'll last?"

"Not long."

"So…if you put the same demon with the penguins?"

"I see."

"So what can we assume about Deumos?" Lady asked, finally speaking for the first time.

"That she's intelligent, she's got connections, and she knows how to play rough," Dante said, ticking off the info on his fingers, "Oh, I like her already!"

"You would!" Nero snapped, crossing his arms.

"Yep! So, what's the plan?"


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 – Party Crashers

"I assume this Deumos has something to do with your answer," Vergil said as Dante stood up, loading Ebony and Ivory with new magazines, clicking them into place.

"Uh huh," he responded without much thought, replacing the guns inside his coat, not even looking up.

"Very well."

His brother's coat flapped as he walked to the door, Trish and Lady waiting outside already. Behind him, Nero said a final goodbye to Kyrie, squeezing her hand before turning to leave. Ah, young love. His twin stopped just as Dante hefted Rebellion onto his back.

"Dante…" Vergil whispered with ice in his voice.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"If you deceive me, I will kill you. Don't forget that."

_Scary._ Not that he had any intentions of not telling his brother the total truth.

It was just…easier to show him than to tell him. Hopefully, fighting Deumos would give Vergil all the answers he needed and more.

Now Loading…

Their mutual destination was, oddly enough, a dance club. As was expected in his business, Dante had become used to the abandoned ruins, old castles, haunted mansions, and dark forests that seemed to attract many of the familiar denizens of darkness. The machinations of Hell usually required such places, either for their secrecy or their inherited dark powers. To find such a place like this, in the city, was like a once in a lifetime opportunity.

The five of them were given a wide berth by every single soul that happened to be walking down the streets near them. If it wasn't enough for three guys with white hair and two babes, then the weapons they carried spoke volumes for themselves. The only one who seemed to be able to even remotely blend in was Vergil, who appeared to have no weapon at all.

_Speaking of which, where the Hell had that sword come from_? He hadn't even seen his brother draw it.

Anyways, they soon found themselves across the street from the said dance club, halogen lights humming as they lit up the solid black brick walls that made up the building exterior. Reds, blues, greens, and golds played across its shining surface, twisting to form the words "Seven Deadly Sins". In front of the double doors stood a pair of muscular bouncers in suits, sunglasses, and carrying shoulder harnesses under their jackets. _Hey, you notice things after a while._

"Not exactly the most original name," Dante drawled as he watched the entrance through the passing traffic, "Why are we hitting this place?"

Trish turned to him, toying with her pistols, one leaning casually against her bare shoulder. How that woman dealt with the cold while wearing a top like that, no one knew. Even Lady was wrapped up in a long, black wool coat.

"Deumos owns a few places like this around the world," she explained shortly, "By opening up such places as this, she attracts new followers to her, usually younger."

"Hangs here often, does she?"

"Yeah. You could say it's her favorite. And she likes to treat those who are faithful to her."

"Any problems once we get in?"

"Besides about a hundred or so slightly fanatical humans aging from fifteen to around thirty, nope."

Dante sighed.

"So…it's not like we can go in there and kill them," Nero said.

"Trish. Did you even think about just how hard this is gonna-" Dante started to complain, but was cut short.

Two of their group had detached from them and were making their way through the street toards the entrance. Ironically, those two happened to be Vergil and Lady. There was no chance that both of them would be working together. In fact, Lady seemed appreciate Vergil's presence even less than Dante's, which wasn't all that much to begin with. With nothing else they could do, the other three followed the two to the pair of bouncers standing outside the doors, waiting before a massive line of rave-goers and gothic masses.

"We're here to see Deumos," Lady stated sourly, not even bothering to try and hide the size of her cannon behind her.

Both of the bouncers glanced at each other as they noticed the group before them.

"Are your names on the list?" the one on the right asked as held up a leather bound book in one hand, flipping it open to a marked page.

The man blinked as both his sunglasses and the book in his hand split in two before any of them could draw a breath. Dante heard a slight click as something slid back into place and noticed Vergil was now standing beside the man. Both of them stared at his brother in a mix of amazement and fear. He didn't even bother to look at either of them. Evidently, both Vergil and Lady had the same idea of how they were getting inside. Pure intimidation.

"We're going in," he informed them coldly, and that was all.

As soon as he opened the door, the steady beat of overpowering bass hit them like a hurricane. For the moment speechless, Dante and the others could only follow Vergil through the door, Lady close behind him. The red walls glowed with purple light from the lamps that lined the wall. As they continued down the slender corridor, the music and annoying pounding of that damned bass only got louder. People were started to crowd the hall, flattened as they saw the group of weapon bearing companions heading their way. Surprisingly, none of their faces showed with even a hint of panic, but only with a mild sort of interest. Dante caught up to Vergil, tapping him the shoulder. His brother only slightly turned his head towards him, asking him, without words, what he wanted.

"So, did you two happen to think of a plan before we forced our way in here?" he questioned curiously.

"We make sure Deumos has our attention," he said simply, only giving the smallest of shrugs.

Dante pulled out Ebony and Ivory, lifting them in hands into the air in a simple, laid-back gesture.

"Whatever," was all he said in reply.

The corridor ended with a particular thicker crowd than they had seen.

"Aw, hell!" Nero let out as they finally found themselves standing before a mass of black-clad ravers and dancers, lights blaring in and out with different colors, the music deafening, "How do we find her here?"

"Don't worry, kid," Dante called out over all the noise, "She's comin' to us!"

Without so much as caring about the collective reaction of the crowd, he held Ivory up, firing off a dozen or so shots. As loud as it was inside the club, there was not a single person who did not hear the gunshots go off. The moment the first bullet went off, people were ducking out of their way left and right, hunching over tables and chair, diving for cover, screaming. The lights came to a halt where they were, and even the dj at the stage forgot about his music and made an escape through the curtains. Lady pulled her automatic rifle from her leg holster and blasted the speakers into a peaceful and very, very quiet submission after the static had faded.

The place went from absolutely party crazy to like a graveyard within a few seconds.

"Well, that was easy," Nero remarked from behind him.

"Who are you to invade this place and threaten my guests?" a woman's voice rang out from somewhere above.

Looking to the rafters and the upper levels of the club, they all immediately took notice of a lone figure in coming to a defiant stand at one of the railings, looking down at them as though they were mice. Her pale skin was almost just as white as the dress she wore, slit so that it revealed quite a bit of leg and hip, and cut so low that her other charms bounced and hung, practically squished together as she crossed her delicate looking arms on the rail. Black hair was braided over her shoulder, hanging down to her waist, green eyes flashing amusedly in the light for an instant. Dante took a few steps forward, pointing up at her as though he were an old coach picking out his favorite little-league ball player.

"And you must be Deumos," he said, not even bothering to answer her question first, "Nice place you got here. Unfortunately, we had to crash it."

"Hm, the demon hunter…..Dante," she laughed from above as her party goers in the crowd slowly widened the circle around them, backing away warily, "How nice of you to drop by. Too bad…that your visit should be so short."

Click. _Wait. That definitely wasn't right. _

The barrel of a gun was pointed right at his eye, so much so that he was staring down it. And _God, you never realize how big a gun is until you've on the other end of it_. And the one pointing it at him…was Trish.

"Trish?" he asked, completely caught by surprise, his eyebrow raised.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 – Mission 4: Dance With The Devils

"I'm sorry," Deumos said from her perch, tilting her head with mock concern, "Is something wrong? Take hold of them!"

Dante only had to glance at Trish to answer that question. As for her order, about a dozen men dressed in all black materialized out of the crowd. It didn't take much for them to realize they were demons. Even their skin was an odd shade of purplish-black that gleamed strangely in the dim light.

"Meet my personal soldiers, the Legion," Deumos called proudly down to them, "I believe you might have heard of them."

"A little," Dante replied, turning his face to meet her gaze, "I'm more interested in what happened to my friend here."

"She's been a follower of mine for decades now. Although she never quite realized it. She was created by me."

"Then you knew Mundus."

"Correct, demon hunter. You could say I was a…an ally who held like interests. But what has it been now, Dante? Thirty years since we last met?"

"Something like that."

Nero pulled the Blue Rose from his coat and put right up to Trish's head. The hammer clicked back. Everyone else remained completely still, frozen in place, either in confusion or waiting to see what Dante would do first. Except for Vergil. _Wait. Where is Vergil?_

His brother had disappeared. And no one but him seemed to have even noticed.

"Go ahead, little Sparda," Deumos purred, giggling kind of like how you would imagine a little school girl gone evil would, "Shoot her. I can promise you that Dante will be shot before she dies."

"Let them both go!" Nero snarled, instead turning his gun on Deumos and firing.

Perhaps the most disconcerting thing happened. The woman caught the bullets with her bare hands, her limb but a blur for only a second before she revealed the two rounds in her palm. She hummed in delight.

"Nice try, young one!" she exclaimed, dropping the two bullets down amid the crowd, lost, "But it takes more than the shot from a cretin like you!"

As an answer, Nero replaced the Blue Rose and reached for the Red Queen. The second his hand reached the hilt, Trish's other gun came up to his face. A flash of blue appeared behind her, slashing the Legion soldier behind her to literal pieces. Dante's eyes widened. _No!_

The bullet entered his forehead as he attempted to rush past Trish, shoving her other gun hand away from Nero. Thankfully, it was a rushed job, and she hadn't been able to put any of her powers behind it. If that had happened, Dante figured even he would have a hard time recovering from it. There are some things that even he couldn't take much of. The shot went off without harming anyone. Wincing as he took another unsteady step and drew Rebellion from his back, he just barely deflected Vergil's lightning quick sword before it touched Trish's back.

Chaos ensued. The clash of steel served as enough of a distraction for Lady to throw down her coat and draw both of her semi-automatic pistols, taking out five of the Legions from around them as Nero swung the Red Queen to slice through the others behind them. Trish managed to slip away without anyone realizing, firing another two shots that Dante struggled to block as he broke away from Vergil. Just as soon as they flew into the torso of another Legion, his brother came flying at him, his sword sinking into Dante's stomach. He groaned aloud, pain shooting through his body for the time being.

"Why did you save her?" his brother hissed, not with anger but with honest dismay.

Dante looked up at his brother. Their eyes met, and it was for a single second that they seemed to share minds. Perhaps it is true that eyes are the window to the soul. Dante could see Vergil's utter bewilderment, mixed with frustration, and perhaps even disappointment. For once, his twin could not see into his mind. Something was blocking his sight. Something. And Dante knew exactly what it was.

He had not been there. That night. Vergil was not the one who had had to pull the trigger.

And whatever his brother saw, it troubled him. Dante gripped the edge of Vergil's sword and pulled it from him.

"She's innocent," he said, grunting as he waited for his wound to heal over, "There's no need to kill her."

"She betrayed you," Vergil stated, as cold as the winter ice.

"No…"

His brother only shook his head. And then, he swung his sword around Dante's head, at the same time as Dante thrust Rebellion behind Vergil's back. Both of them found their targets. Two Legions fell into dust on the floor. The battle had returned to them. There was no more time to talk. Above them, Deumos laughed all the while, as the black figures of her Legion soldiers came rushing at them, armed with nothing but their brutal strength.

"Perhaps we will meet again, sons of Sparda," she called, waving a single hand and disappearing shortly after.

Even to the bloodline of Sparda, these demons could prove to be problematic. Perhaps that was because of their origin. Legions were not entirely demons upon creation. They were the corrupted souls who became possessed by the very evil power that they sought to make their own. The only problem with seeking that kind of power was that not everyone's souls could stand up to it. Some remained whole, while others became fragmented, breaking apart until their identity was lost to the darkness of their heart.

As cheesy as it sounded, that was exactly what the Legions were. They were lost souls. And it explained why Deumos loved to attract young followers to her. Young people made perfect hosts for demonic powers if you could destroy their minds enough to break down their mental and physical resistance. For example, get them to shoot enough drugs, and their minds and bodies would eventually lose much of their natural immunities. Maybe then she would grant them their wishes, once they were high in the sky and flying. Then, with their concentration and heart scattered, the shadows could take them wholly. And young bodies also lasted longer as vessels for the Legions. In essence, it was everything a leader could want from a soldier. And with the exception of getting freaky with a human, it was the one way a demon could produce partial half-bloods. In other words, they were effective. Especially since many demons did not find enjoyment in having relations with humans. It was deemed beneath them.

As the human patrons of the club fled the scene, the Legions swarmed in to take their place, screams, gunfire, and steel creating the song of battle. With foes appearing left and right, there was no choice but to stay close. It soon became a fight for their survival, making a stand back to back. Dante and Vergil were the most mobile of the group, jumping to wherever they were needed. Nero was slower, and Lady, while she was normally light of her feet, had almost no maneuverability whatsoever.

"It's getting cramped in here!" Lady shouted over the report of her dual rapid fire assault pistols, having abandoned the semis minutes ago when they ran out of ammo.

"So take off all your clothes!" Dante put it in a sing-song, sardonic tone, laughing at his own pun as he plowed his way through the Legion soldiers who came too close to clawing his face off.

Vergil was a silent figure at his left, elegantly standing in a single stance, almost at ease. His sword did not even blur in the air. His sword arm seemed to have vanished at the elbow. All that could be seen of his attacks were the demons minced into pieces. Nero, however, even dared to look over his shoulder at Dante, giving him an incredulous look.

"Now is not the time for jokes, Dante," Vergil said above the din around them.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he sighed, throwing Rebellion through a score of their enemies and drawing Ebony and Ivory, "Maybe I'll just leave the commentary to you, then!"

A wall of bullets assailed the Legions were they stood, hundreds of holes tearing their way through various body parts. On the other side of them, Nero all but made greasy stains of a handful of foes, his Devil Bringer smashing them against the wall, concrete dust and blood flying everywhere.

"I think it's time we blow this place," Lady cried, dropping the empty clips from her guns, replacing them and pulling Kalina Ann from the strap on her back.

_Oh shit._ All three of them cleared the way without even thinking, the rocket firing into the midst of the demons at their back, while they pressed the Legions away from their rear. The doorway they had come through now lay before them, though it was now slightly larger and riddled with pocket marks, scorch marks, and body parts.

"Go!" Dante roared, shoving Nero back first and firing off another barrage of bullets from his guns.

He quickly followed the kid, creating cover fire from the narrow hall to allow his friends to slip through the closing flood of rabid demon baddies. Suddenly, a groan from somewhere above his head sounded. _Not good!_

Both he and Nero leapt back instinctively. It doesn't take much to realize that something horribly bad is going to happen. Likewise, it doesn't take much to see when something horribly heavy is about to crush the life out of you either. They rolled across the floor, coming to a stop just in time to see a pair of the railings that had been above them, like the one Deumos had stood on, come crashing down. Not to mention a half a dozen support beams from the wall and a healthy helping of concrete, drywall, and insulation. Dante hopped to his feet.

"Vergil! Lady!" he cried from behind the metal and concrete mess that blocked off the others but for a small gap in the mesh, "Get outta there!"


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 – Mission 5: Unlikely Hero

It was obviously impossible for them to leave the way they had entered. The barrier was probably nearly twenty feet thick, packed and crowded enough to even make it difficult enough for him to cut through. The only part of Dante he could see was his face, a torn expression of his brother's face. Was he worried about them? Not even bothering to waste the time to try and reply, Vergil turned his back on his brother, swiping away at a gathering of Deumos' warriors, ending their lives in a flash of invisibly fast steel.

"There's no way we're getting through that!" Lady yelled, now firing less and less from her guns.

"You couldn't just fire another rocket?" he asked as calmly as if he was having a completely civilized and safe conversation with the woman, and not in the middle of a fight.

"Unless you want either more crap to come raining down on that pile or Dante and Nero to end up like swiss cheese…"

He sighed inwardly. Leave it to the people with guns to complicate matters. _Detestable things_. It was why he never used them.

"Then we'll need to find a way out," he suggested as he took a single step back, almost running into Lady in the process.

"If you could create some space, I might be able to help with that," she growled from beside him.

He could tell she was not enjoying the prospect of aiding him, or him aiding her. She wanted nothing to do with him. But they were stuck together. And the demons were beginning to crowd him.

"Alright then," he said as he let out a deep breath and focused.

A gleam of purple light streamed from his sword as he stepped forward, whisking through the air like the wind. A cool breeze blew through the club, and he was gone. Lady must have figured he was in the middle of ensuring their escape. As confused as she was, she kept on firing. He had to give her that; she wasn't stupid. Although he moved with a speed that was beyond much of human sight, he perceived every enemy and every stroke as though it were slowed. He was charging, spinning, slashing, sprinting, attacking again, creating a whirlwind all around him and Lady. Their hair flew up in the gust, their clothing flapping its torrent. And finally, he came to a stop.

A simple click sounded. He held his cane again, standing as though he had went for a simple walk and not exerted himself.

The Legions all around them simple faded into ash. What wounds they had received went unknown. They were frozen, and then they were gone. Only those out of his long reach had withstood his attack. Lady dropped what was most likely the last of her ammo to the floor and took up her ridiculously-sized missile launcher again. Flipping a switch near the trigger, a grappling hook attached to steel cable whistled into the air. Looking above their heads, he watched as the glass of the skylight shattered, and a metal clank as the hook wrapped around one of the frames and found purchase. Striding over to her as she braced herself against the ground and taking hold of the large gun and her waist, they pulled each other closer as their feet were lifted off the ground.

A moment went by when their eyes met. Both her blue and red eye held the same emotion and distaste as before. She tolerated his presence and that was all. She might even hate him. In his mind, it did not matter to him.

His heart told him otherwise.

He gripped his cane tightly as they were shot into the air, rising more than a hundred feet until they reached the ceiling. Their ride came to a jerking stop, causing both of them to tense up and hold tighter to the other. Lady's opinion of that showed clearly across her face.

"Go," he told her, his eyes flicking to the night sky and the roof only inches away.

She gave him a strange look then, a brief instant of hesitation, as though she had not heard him correctly. It troubled her. Instead of saying anything more, Vergil only lifted her form up by her waist, practically forcing her through the opening in the huge window, his other arm wrapped around her overly large gun. She scrambled to the roof, heaving to raise herself up. Vergil glanced up at the wrong time and got a nice view of an awkward place he had never quite thought about on a woman.

_Why would she choose to wear such clothing while fighting off demons?_ It was beyond him.

Her legs vanished from sight for only a second, and then her face appeared again, an arm reaching down to take hold of his hand. Below, the Legions had begun to ascend the stairs and the remaining addition levels created by the scaffolds and railings. Sending out an effort of will, a series of spiraling energy blades flew to their targets, melting their way through metal and demon alike.

He had only just recovered himself when he felt something go whistling past his ear. Reacting instinctively, he ducked his head as another followed the first projectile's path, only grazing a hair on his head. Lady quickly pulled her gun from the frame, detaching the cable, falling to a sitting position and fired off a round. The rocket screamed towards its target.

The icy blades pierced the shell before it had covered even half the distance between them. The steaming figure, its skin appearing as but a sheen of ice, propelled itself forward, both of its wrists sending exactly eight…what appeared to be knives of glowing ice right at Lady. He was moving, maybe before even he knew it.

The cane in his hand pulsating, the sword appearing within the blink of an eye. Spinning it in a great circle, he put himself between the danger and the woman, his blade finding each hazard and deflecting it safely away from her. The ice demon, cackling as it balanced strangely on one leg atop a chimney, flipped in a circle, sending out dozens more of its daggers. Lady came to a stand, firing a second rocket towards it. It simply missed as the demon all but teleported away, giggling as it cart-wheeled its way around. Vergil blocked the weapons coming his way, again stepping before Lady as the demon whipped more at her.

She tensed, stunned, as he again saved her with a great sweep of his blade.

He said not a word as her mouth hung open, her eyes wide. He only gave her a glance over his shoulder, one that might have been a little softer than he was accustomed to, and that was all. The demon reeled, chuckling insanely as it flashed its hand their way, a line of its knives coming towards them.

Vergil caught them in a simple motion, flipping them over his blade and directing them back the path they had come. The demon howled in pain as they each their mark, stabbing into its leg, chest, and shoulder. Immobile for now, he…

Well, he didn't get to do anything to it. A loud cha-chunk sounded, and the demon was blown to pieces. Looking over his shoulder at Lady a second time, he saw that she had drawn her sawed off shotgun from her leg harness. She lowered the firearm slowly, expelled both rounds, and replaced it, her eyes ever on him, forming a glare.

"I don't need your help," he said with venom, stressing each word.

He only nodded.

Walking over to the ledge that overlooked the street below, Vergil turned to her. With no other way clearly shown, they both knew the only way they were going to get down there. His cane again in his hand, he took of her by the waist again as she placed her rocket launched across her back again, her hands about his shoulders. She didn't like it. But it was needed. Even if a human could survive the fall from this height, Lady did not need to be in the hospital with a pair of broken legs and hips. He would have to help her.

Making sure she was secure, and that not an inch of her body would even come into contact with the ground, Vergil stepped right off the roof and began their descend, wind howling about them.


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 – Reflections Of The Past

The landing didn't even seem to phase him. The ground came up quickly, and still, all it required of him was to bend his knees slightly so as not to jar either him or Lady. His coat whirled about him as they came to their abrupt halt, Dante and Nero having clear the club some time ago and watching them descend. All the party and dance goers, along with the bouncers, had fled, probably once the gunfire and noise had started. Vergil let Lady slide down to the ground and out of his hold. She quickly parted from him, walking over to Dante.

"No problems, I trust?" his brother asked as Lady passed him, Vergil following her and stopping before him.

"None," was all he said.

Now Loading…

"So…where do we go now?" Nero asked as soon as they returned to Devil May Cry, beaten, tired, and honestly lost.

"We can take a look into that later, kid," Dante said, yawning upon entering and heading straight for his desk and chair, "Lady can look into any other places Deumos might like to crash."

She had only just closed the door, Vergil passing her as she entered. He saw Lady's face…well, change. He didn't exactly know how to describe it. For a second, she looked at his brother with a strange expression, and the next, she whipped around to face him.

"Thanks for volunteering me, Dante," she muttered sorely, sitting down at the nearest chair and began laying out all of her weapons, "You never cease to bail yourself out of work."

Dante didn't say a word. At the moment, he was pretending to be asleep.

Now Loading…

It seemed that there were now two people who filled him with questions. And it was something Vergil was unaccustomed to. Unlike his brother, he did not necessarily need a neon sign pointing directly to his destination. While Dante lacked certain subtleties and an inward sight, he had always been very introspective. If a question came up, it never went unanswered. Everything was simple, easy. Not a single problem bothered him for long. The solution was meditated on and carried out. That was all.

But what could you do when the questions only led to more questions?

Vergil was not used to such happenings. Everything up to that point had been that way.

Their father had left their home a long time ago, years before their mother had died at the hands of his brother. They had only been ten. After that, their mother turned reclusive, never leaving the house. She did not even talk as much as she used to. She did not sing as she went about her work, cleaning and caring for the house on the hillside. Neighbors stayed for shorter periods of time, afraid of intruding, afraid of staying too long. More and more of their teachers seemed to worry about the twins, wondering if they were cared. They had not known why at the time. Dinnertime was no longer filled with her laughter. A rare smile, and that might be all. Their mother seemed to have had her very soul taken from her.

He had not blamed her. Father's absence had done almost the exact same to him. It seemed that every inch of his carefree childhood had been wiped away when Sparda had disappeared. While Dante continued to be the child of the family, he preoccupied his time in becoming the man of the house. He was the oldest. With his father gone, it was his responsibility to take care of his mother and his brother. He had even begun to go about the tasks Sparda had done while he had been there, chopping wood for the fireplace, fixing things that were broken. He began to spend much of his time in his father's library, among the books. He had never had many friends. Making friends…Dante had always been good at that. He was too 'up tight' for that kind of thing.

Nothing could make his father's absence go away. The sting remained, even as he went about his new tasks. But it helped to know that Sparda would have wanted him to do this. It was his only comfort. And for but Yamato, it was all he had left to remember him.

And then, one day, their world had been turned upside down. He remembered it so well. It was forever etched in his memory, a scene that would play on just as vividly as when it had first taken place.

The flames jutted out of the windows, the heat shattering the glass even as it lay on the deck. The door was gone, in pieces on the floor as he entered. All about him, the house was set ablaze, bits and pieces of their lives and memories, of their very souls, were wasting away before him. Turning black, fading, dying, strewn ashes in the air.

Dante and his mother stood a distance away, and it was about them that the gruesome view was centered and shaped. His brother held his guns up, aimed right at his mother. He ran, stumbling over debris. He cried out. But he went unheard. The two shots rang out. And the world seemed to go crazily still until the body fell.

Vergil opened his eyes. He lay in bed, in the last room at the back corner of the upstairs of Devil May Cry. He had chosen it for his once, only informing Dante that he was retiring for the day. This he had more done to be alone than anything else. He needed time to think.

Gaining Devil Trigger was not far behind him, when he watched his mother's corpse fall to the floor of their burning home. The outrage and agony had been too much. Dante had ripped away the last life that had held them together as a family. He couldn't bear to call him 'brother' anymore. It came to him so easily.

He almost killed him. Just when he had Yamato's blade pressed to Dante's throat, ready to end his life, his brother shot him. His knees screamed out in pain, and he fell, unable to stand. He lashed out one last time as the power flowing through his body faded out like a candle in the wind. He reverted back to his human form, clothing torn, skin darkened from smoke and ash, dirty. Defeated. He couldn't even stand. Dante staggered backward, a hand covering the wound on his shoulder as he stood up over him. They stared at each other for a very long time, him with glaring, ice cold eyes, his twin with terrible, sad eyes. Whether it was the blood loss or the use of energy, Vergil fainted. He awoke the next morning, clear from the ruins of the house. Saved.

One year later, he had challenged Dante atop Temen-ni-gru. And not once, not even when they had fought together to part Arkham from the power of their father that he had stolen, not even after that had Vergil forgiven him for the death of his mother. Dante was forever marked, cursed to carry that unforgivable sin. There was no redemption.

Or was there?

The look in his brother's eye as he defended the devil, Trish…it troubled him. She had betrayed them all, clearly allying herself with the enemy. Whether she was under Deumos' control did not matter. She was an enemy. Enemies were destroyed.

Then why, why did Dante chose to save her?

Was it because she looked like their mother? Was Dante regretting the past? He barely seemed the type to be worn down by it. His brother lived his life from day to day. He did not give time to reflection to his actions, any of them. Or so he thought. And then, there was something Deumos had said. She said she had not seen Dante in thirty years. Which would mean that…

They met around the time of their mother's death. So that was the connection that Dante wished to show him. While the nature of their bond was elusive, he would have to wait until they confronted her again if he wished to learn more.

The other who made him question himself was, perhaps, the most unexpected from all. Vergil sighed to himself as he stared up at the ceiling. Despite himself, he found himself looking at the cane propped up against the nightstand beside his bed.

"What would you think of me now, Helena?" he asked aloud, to no one except it.

_The human…..Lady is quite…unusual. _

**Devil Arm Information:**

**Name: Helena**

**Description: A thin blade bestowed with powers somewhat alike to those apparent in Yamato. Unlike Vergil's first sword, this one is neither as swift nor as powerful. However, this blade does allow him to use other abilities such as harnessing the power of the wind. Though because he will say nothing more about it, its true powers remain a mystery. **


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 – I Like My Coffee Black

Nero let out a frustrated growl as Dante caught the phone in his hand. Before he could even say hi to the delivery person on the other end, he was already heading for the door.

"Hey, Nero!" he called out, ignoring the phone for a second, "Where you goin'?"

"I swear, Dante," he spat as he spun around to face him, "If I have to eat pizza for another day, I'm going to kill something! I'll be back!"

"Oh…well, get me a strawberry sundae from the ice cream place on the corner-"

"Go get it yourself! Do I look like I'm your errand boy?"

Dante seemed to restrain himself from saying 'yes, Nero, yes, you do' and instead turned his attention to the speechless woman on the line.

"Yeah, get me…..oh, hi there, Lisa!" he said in surprise, "No, sorry. Just kinda taking care of a boy hitting puberty. You know how that can be. Oh, if you wanna come by, I have this great….Oh shit!"

He ducked as the stool collided with the wall where his head had been only a second ago. In order to dodge it, Dante had unseated himself and now sat on the floor. Looking up over the desk and righting himself again, Nero gave him the finger before he walked through the door.

_Damn that Dante. _

"Sorry about that, Lisa! I've got the place to myself. Bring the pizza and some beers and we can have ourselves some fun!" he told her seductively, smiling.

Now Loading…

Nero and the girl, Kyrie, were just leaving when Vergil was returning from his usual escape from the confines of his brother and his live-free-and-make-a-mess lifestyle. In other words, ever since he had begun his stay at Devil May Cry(three days ago), he had begun the habit of taking a walk in the morning. This served to clear his head and also stay on top of any hints or rumors that might point them in the right direction. And with Lady still searching through her contacts in the police, it could take some time before they found Deumos again.

Even the cold of winter in full swing did not phase him. He had always enjoyed the season more than the others. Snow now covered the streets and sidewalks, humans going about their lives, many of them shoveling their way out of their driveways in the morning. Around him, the beginnings of Christmas decorations were beginning to appear.

Nero was the first to notice him. As usual, whenever he and the youth came into contact, the only greeting that was exchanged between the two of them was a simple nod. And while he felt a small pang every time it was so, he was not the type to speak openly with someone he knew so little of. For now, he was content to stick around and see just what kind of person Nero had turned out to be.

Kyrie was different. Although his very presence seemed to sometimes terrify the girl, she always made an attempt to be as cheerful as possible whenever he was around. Maybe she felt this would crack some sort of mental shell he had placed around himself. It was ridiculous. But he appreciated it nonetheless in his own way.

"Hello, Vergil," she called out, smiling and waving at him as he approached the two of them.

One of his eyebrows raised, as was commonly his reaction to such enthusiasm. Kyrie kept up her happy appearance.

"Dante sounds like he's ordering a pizza and inviting someone over," she stated, rolling her eyes, "Nero and I were just going to get something ourselves."

"I see," he replied shortly, then added in an effort to seem more polite, "Tired of pizza."

It wasn't a question. It didn't need to be. Dante's obsession with his three piece, every single day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu was beginning to get to everyone. Pizza, strawberry sundaes, and beer. It was why he had not partaken in any meals at Devil May Cry, but had, instead, gone out.

"Why don't you join us?" Nero offered, though he suspected that the young man did not honestly expect him to take it up.

Vergil's hand tightened on the top of his cane, squeezing it unnoticeably.

"Why not," he said simply, shrugging.

Their intended destination was Frankie's Bar And Grill just a few blocks away. It was the type of old fashioned diner, waitresses in brightly colored blouses and short skirts and skates, the bartender complete with old 20s vest and tie, and a warm atmosphere for drinking and eating. Of course, being unfamiliar with such places, Vergil was surprised to find nearly a dozen different people greeting them upon entering.

"Hey, Nero! Take a seat, I'll be right with you!"

"Hi, Kyrie, honey! How you doing'?"

"G'afternoon, Nero!"

"Hey, where's Dante?"

"At the office, bumming around as usual," Nero answered to this.

"Nero, whose the cutie?"

Vergil closed his eyes for a moment to collect himself. He had no doubt this was going to be an interesting experience. After being assaulted like that, he was grateful that Nero chose the booth in the corner for them. He placed himself on the opposite side of the two of them and quickly picked up the menu, feigning interest for the time being and walling himself off in privacy. No sooner had he gotten comfortable when a waitress rolled up to them with a rattling sound, her skates coming to a halt as she held onto a serving platter.

"What can I get ya to drink?" she asked in between chews of her gum.

Nero only signaled with two of his fingers, using his left hand. Again, he had adopted using the cast to disguise his right arm from the rest of the world. The waitress seemed to take the meaning and hastily scribbled down on her pad.

"Two Cokes," she muttered, and then turned to him, "And what will you be having?"

"Tea," he answered curtly.

"I'm afraid we're outta that, hon. Can I get you something else?"

"Coffee then."

"Cream and sugar?"

"No, thank you."

"Alright! I'll be back with your drinks! Take your time!"

She whisked off after jotting down another note and disappeared behind the counter. Vergil was only vaguely aware of the minor discomfort passing between Nero and Kyrie. He looked up from his menu, aloof, almost knowing immediately that they were trying to spark a conversation. Naturally, it was Kyrie who spoke first.

"So, you're Dante's twin brother?" she asked hesitantly, baiting her breath, "You guys are so different."

"I suppose I should take that as a compliment," he said, giving her a rare, wry smile(a small one).

Nero chuckled, and Kyrie seemed to grow slightly bolder and happier. She had broken the ice.

"You guys seem to get along okay," she continued, and then frowned, "It's strange that he's never said more about you."

Vergil nodded.

"You could say we've had our disagreements," he remarked honestly, "We haven't gotten along since our mother died."

"That's so sad!" Kyrie cried, holding a hand up to her mouth, "Was she sick?"

"No. She was killed."

Silence ensued.

"I'm so sorry," she said in a hushed tone.

He said nothing. What was there to say? Vergil had never quite understood the human habit of apologizing for the death of someone who you had nothing to do with. An apology claimed responsibility for a wrong. It seemed sheer idiocy to him. At least, he had thought so until he heard Kyrie say it. Maybe it was meant to convey some sense of comfort or empathy. Maybe other humans just weren't that good at saying it. He didn't know.

"At least you knew your parents," Nero admitted, as he grasped Kyrie's hand gently on the table, "I never knew mine. I was an orphan left in the care of the Order on Fortuna Island. Have you ever been there?"

Something inside Vergil's chest went ice cold. He bowed his head for a moment, again gripping the top of his cane under the table so that they might not see. He took a deep breath, allowing it to pass.

It was not yet time. He was not ready. There was too much to explain, and now was neither the time nor the place. He barely knew Nero. It was not the subject you broke to a complete stranger.

"Once," he said, "A long time ago."

The waitress came and interrupted an expansion that might have been made on the subject. He was grateful, though he did nothing to let it show.

"Two Cokes and a coffee," the girl said as she placed the said drinks on the table, handing Nero and Kyrie a pair of straws, "Now, what can I get you to eat?"

Nero nodded to Kyrie first.

"Fish and fries, please," she said with a polite smile.

"Cheeseburger, everything," Nero told her, a smile on his face, "And extra chips."

"Alright," the waitress said as she looked up from her notepad, "And what will you be having, sir?"

Vergil stared at her as though she was speaking some foreign language. He had not decided what to order yet.

"Give the man a cheeseburger," Nero spoke up, pointing to him, and turned to him, "Trust me, you'll like it."

Vergil only nodded slightly.

"Should be ready in a few minutes!" the girl exclaimed as she placed her pen and pad in the pocket of her blouse and rushed off.

He picked up the mug of coffee she had placed on the table. About to take a sip, he stopped, staring down at the cup with measure annoyance.

"What's wrong?" Kyrie asked him, concerned.

He looked up.

"I like my coffee black," he said, placing it back down on the table without another word.


	16. Chapter 15

Wow, I got my first review. And here I thought I'd never get one. Thank you.

Sorry about not posting in a while. I know, I know…I just shot down the whole 'I update quickly' thing. So much for that…*sigh*

Between work and school and people, things have been frustrating.

Anyway, enough rambling. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 15 – Second Date

They returned to Devil May Cry to find quite a sight laid out before them. For one, about half a dozen empty beer bottles lay scattered across the top of Dante's desk, along with the nearly finished pizza inside. Dante was simply nowhere to be seen. And in his place was a blonde woman, hurriedly getting things together inside of her purse, half-dressed, and touching up her makeup as she slowly walked closer and closer to the door. As soon as the three entered, she looked up, quickly closing her shirt to cover her bra and other certain body parts and blushed.

"Oh, hi! I'm Lisa!" she exclaimed more out of embarrassment than surprise, "I was actually just…you know, leaving!"

"Where's Dante?" Nero asked in more of a groan than a question.

"Right here, sport!"

Sure enough, Dante appeared at the top of the stairs. In nothing but boxer shorts.

Vergil's hand came up to gently massage the place in-between his eyes. It was the kind of thing that gave him a splitting headache in about five seconds. He sighed.

"Miss me?" Dante asked as he came bouncing down the stairs and started to pull on what looked like his pants, which had been left on the couch.

Which meant they had started down here. _Beautiful._

"No one could miss you in that, Dante!" Nero seethed, shaking his head and crossing his arms.

"I don't know," he said with a shrug, and then went into a very macho, body builder pose to flex his muscles, "What do you think, Kyrie?"

Vergil ignored the rest and simply walked to the stairs.

"I'll be in my room," he told whoever was interested enough to know.

Now Loading…

"I wasn't able to find anything," Lady explained the next day as she paced around the office in front of his desk where he sat in his customary spot, "I even had Gordon run through their files down at the station. Nothing. I can't believe this! It's like she never existed!"

"That's not too surprising," Dante commented, leisurely going through and cleaning Ebony and Ivory as he did once a month or so, "You don't just kinda let everyone know you're a devil. It attracts lot of unwanted attention. It's like someone going around claiming to be Jesus. They soon end up in a psycho ward."

"I know that! But how did Trish-"

"Trish was probably told to say all that she did. There probably never was any info on Deumos to be found in that amount. She'd have to be stupid."

"Then how do we find her?"

The door to Devil May Cry opened and slammed shut swiftly, causing Lady to whirl around and Dante to lean ever so slightly to the left and peer around the demon hunter. Patty came stomping in looking more like the marshmallow man than a girl of fourteen. Her coat, scarf, hat, gloves, jeans, and boots made her look so bulky that she might have been carrying two or three small puppies in the coat along with her. Her rosy face appeared from behind the scarf, and she suddenly broke into a run across the office.

"Dante! Mommy said I could stay over!" she squealed in delight.

He raised an eyebrow.

"That's…great," he said, confused, "Except I knew nothing about this."

"Oh, Kyrie invited me to stay over. Don't worry, I won't bother you! I just brought a couple of things so we can have a girl's night. And…"

She said all of this as she went through the long process of excavating herself from her winter clothing, hanging her coat and scarf and hat to dry while she kicked off her boots. Underneath that, she wore a thick, hooded sweater. A bag of her things dropped to the floor.

"Patty…um, we might be kinda busy," Dante tried to explain as the girl started unpacking her stuff.

"Don't worry! I said I won't bother you!" she exclaimed and then ran over to Lady, "It is okay is I stay, right, Lady?"

"Of course!" the woman replied with a smile, flashing an evil grin as Dante when Patty turned around.

_Women. Can sleep with 'em. But can't live with 'em._ He sighed.

"Whatever!" he murmured, leaning back in his chair.

"And you should really think about getting a Christmas tree, Dante," the girl said in a scolding voice, "People will think you're a real Scrooge."

"Bah humbug," he grumbled without any enthusiasm.

"See what I mean. Hi, Kyrie!"

Patty ran across the room and gave Nero's girl about the biggest hug the pint-sized tornado could manage. Nero only smiled, amused, and walked over to Dante.

"Hey, Ebenezer!" the kid called.

"You too, Quasimodo?" he asked, shaking his head, "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to check and see what we knew about Deumos."

"Nothing!"

"Alright! Don't have to be so grumpy, old man."

"Just acting the part."

Ring. Ring. Bam!

"Devil May Cry," Dante answered as soon as he performed his usual foot-slam-catch-phone stunt.

"Good evening, Mr. Dante," the voice replied coolly.

"Deumos?" he asked, surprised despite himself, "How nice of you to call? It's been a while!"

Everyone went completely still as they waited to hear what Dante would say next. Only Vergil stirred from his chair, closing the book he had been reading with a soft clap, standing and taking a step closer to the desk.

"Indeed it has," she said with a rich laugh, "You're quite the hunter. More than I had originally thought. It was such a fantastic time to see you in action. I only wish I could have seen more."

"Are you hitting on me?" he joked, coming down from his perch on his chair to rest his elbows against the desk, "I doubt you called to reminisce. Interested in a second date?"

"You are quite charming. Very well. I will meet you at 8521 53rd Street at nine. Come alone. I look forward to seeing you again, Mr. Dante."

The line went out before he could say anything further. He tossed it back on the receiver without another thought.

"You're meeting her?" Lady asked at the ensuing silence as he leaned back in his chair once more.

"Yeah," he said, yawning and stretching his arms, "53rd street. Sounded like a parking garage. Not exactly your usual spot for a date."

"What time?"

"Nine."

Just about everyone else's eyes went to the clock. Dante didn't even have to look. He could tell by the angle of the sun coming through the windows that it was probably already around seven. Nero folded his hands where he sat in his chair, thinking.

"So…how are we gonna do this?" he asked.

"I'm going alone," Dante stated shortly.

About the silent version of a collective smack to the face occurred within every other person within the office.

"Like Hell you are!" Patty cried before anyone else could speak, and he watched as she whirled around to face Lady, "Lady, tell Dante he's not going alone!"

"He's not!" the demon hunter just about growled, and eyed him with an edged look, "And he's an idiot if he thinks otherwise."

"Wait…he's not an idiot already?" Nero wondered, with a hopeless look on his face, "He's the one who agreed to this."

"Dante…" Kyrie started in a hushed tone.

His brother only gave him an icy look brimming with frustration. His mouth opened to say something. He didn't get the chance. His chair slammed back down to the floor like thundering crash of loud footsteps, and he stood up just as suddenly. Everyone went quiet. With only a glance at them, he turned, taking Rebellion from where it leaned against the wall. With that, he stared at all who met his eyes.

_I'm through with this. _

"Listen, I'm going alone," he said with a shockingly calm voice, "Leave it to me. It's my business anyways. If you wanna do anything…make me a pizza. Or something."

He sighed to himself as he passed them. _I'm tired of trying to explain myself. This is personal. I don't need others tagging along. Not this time. _

The doors closed on a quiet Devil May Cry as he left everyone behind and turned to the right, heading into the thick of the city.

Now Loading…

He quietly retrieved his coat from the couch, pulling it over him, buttoning it shut. All as though he were going for a simple stroll and not into battle. His cane he tossed into his hand from the tassel and caught as he headed straight for the door only minutes after Dante had left. No one bothered him as he made his way to the door. Except one.

"What are you doing?" the woman, Lady, asked him.

She stood facing him, her arms crossed, mouth set in a thin line. She didn't like being told to sit back and watch. And neither did he.

"I'm going," he responded, and that was all.

There was no need to elaborate.

"To Dante?" she said, persisting.

He remained silent. The answer was obvious enough to bother of them.

"Why?"

She was confused. It was barely discernable from her tense form, her grim eyes. But for the way she kept fidgeting, swaying her hips from left to right, drumming her fingers against her bare arm, or tapping her foot against the floor. She was nervous, lost. And judging from her attitude, she was unaccustomed to it. And Lady didn't like it one bit. Vergil only turned enough to see her from the corner of his eye.

"There are answers I want from him," he told her, his hand tightening on the doorknob, "And…he's my brother. And a fool."

He pushed the door open, stepping outside into the frigid cold of winter. Before it had even shut, he felt someone reach out and stop its close. He turned. Lady was standing right behind him, surrounding herself with her wool coat, fastening it shut. She gave a slight sigh, a shaking breath as a single shiver ran through her. Her eyes met his, and she gave an odd smile.

"You're right," she remarked, shaking her head as she pulled her cannon onto her back by its strap, "He's such a fool."


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16 – Mission 6: Getting Personal

The parking garage to the corporate building dark and just about abandoned by now. Everyone in the office section was either at home or driving there at this time of night. The lights only blinked on after he passed them, their motion sensors triggering the change from dead, orange glow to the bright, white luminance that just about blinded him. Waiting patiently, his eyes adjusted slowly. Clicking footsteps came closer. She was wearing heels. He had been around enough women to recognize the sound. Deumos emerged from the bath of light just opposite him, clad in a black, skintight dress, stockings, and all. Dante sighed.

"You know…it seems like I can never get friendly with you hot chicks," he commented, shaking his head, "We always end up fighting."

"I don't intend to fight you," she purred.

Deumos gave a short chuckle, her clean, pointed teeth showing in a grin. She sauntered over his way, placing one hand on his shoulder and traced it across his back as she went around him. When she had finally come full circle, she let her hand linger on his vest for a second longer.

"You have quite the body, son of Sparda," she complimented, her eyes hungrily trying to swallow his entire image, "Your father must have made a handsome human."

"Glad you like it so much," he replied nimbly, "Maybe you'd like to see it up closer."

"Hm…love to. But, business beckons."

"Alright. Then what do you want?"

She smiled at that. Her hands on her hips, she leaned to the side, causing the slit in her skirt to hike up. Dante almost started drooling. In his mind. Not literally. It was all in his head.

_I hope. _

"I have an offer for you, Dante," she said in a hushed tone, making a rather subtle promise(probably sexual) of her own behind every word, "And I ask you to think it over carefully before you response."

"Let me guess..." he offered, his hand coming up to his chin as he mocked a thinking pose, "You want me to join the dark side, denounce my foolish notions of the light and good, give into my desires for power and glory, and we can rule the galaxy as…man and concubine. That about right?"

"In so many words."

"You people never change. If there's an enemy you feel you can't beat, you try and get them to join you. Well, have I got news for you, foxy lady! I deny you! My soul and righteous, noble heart shall never be corrupted by such base promises as what you have made!"

He could barely contain his laughter after that. As it was, it took every shred of restraint to not start laughing as he said it. Deumos only watched, speechless, as he bent over, his hands on his knees. _I can be so cheesy sometimes!_

She flashed him a humorous smile. It just about cut his legs out from under him, figuratively.

"Are you sure, Dante?" she asked, her a face a reflection of honest pity, sorrow even, "Are you sure you don't want to see your dear old mother again?"

Snap.

It was barely a second before he had crossed the distance between them in a single flash, Rebellion flying around his shoulder in his hand, already slashing down at Deumos. His eyes shined like blood as he closed on her. _Die! _

The blade came down.

"That's more like it, demon hunter!" she squealed with delight, catching the bare steel in-between her hands, "And I thought you would be too timid to…whip it out on the second date!"

Using his own sword as the lever, she sent him crashing into the wall behind her twenty feet away. His head spun as he slammed into the ground only a second later, coughing as he felt his body regenerating what bruises and lacerations any normal human would have received from such a flight. Placing his sword on the floor to help his stand, he shook the dizziness from his head. Black and red smoke had been to appear about his form, drifting like the ethereal cloak of a ghost. Deumos only laughed haughtily, her hands at her hips again.

"Still such a boy," she chided, "Hit but one nerve and you lose your temper. Dear, dear…I think I'm going to have to teach you a lesson."

_Shut up. _

Ebony and Ivory seemed to find their way into his hands of their own accord. The motion was so swift that he doubted any human, and maybe even some demons, would have seen him reach and draw them. Bullets blasted into the air, aimed right for Deumos. They ended up riddling the far wall with holes and not her.

"Don't you want to know what became of your beloved mother?" she whispered in his ear, somehow appearing behind him, her hands going just about everywhere as they slid over him.

His first idea was to elbow her right in the face. Except that didn't work out too well when she ducked and shoved him half way across the garage again, his body skidding across the floor. Whirling up to a stand, having lost Ebony and Ivory along his travels about the building, he caught the kick coming at him with a hand. Using her own momentum against her, he half pulled and half threw his own backfist at her, knocking her deftly to the floor. Leaping back another foot or two out of her reach, he went into a low guard stance, hands at the ready. It had been a while since he had had to resort to using martial arts against the enemy. Deumos snarled as she regained herself, the skirt of her dress flying everywhere as she crawled to a stand, hissing. She charged seconds later, all but a blur.

The first attack he was able to block with his arm, throwing a quick counter to her stomach that sent her off the floor. The second he didn't turn do so well on. While his other arm blocked across his body, he still received a nice kick to the chest as she flipped on nothingness in the air. He turned the motion into a flip of his own, and landed sliding across the ground again. Ebony and Ivory were right next to him. _Well, whadya know? _

Wasting no time, he caught the guns and fired as Deumos came leaping towards him. While she was able to catch many of the bullets, it gave him enough of a distraction to slide to the left, dropping the guns and pivoting his entire body behind a single roundhouse kick. The woman went crashing into one of the pillars in the garage, cutting long tears in her dress. He landed nimbly, aiming his pistols at her again.

This was too much like that night, long ago. Thirty years had passed. And still, after all that time and all the distance he had tried to put between him and that day, it still had caught up to him in a single moment. He shook his head as he blinked and saw not Deumos, but his mother, standing before him. For an instant, the garage had been replaced by the burning, broken halls of his former home, the only home he had ever known. And then…

"Why?" he growled, not taking his sights off of her for a second, "What did you have to gain by possessing my mother?"

Deumos' smile never faltered as she rose, using the pillar to support her. A long gash had been cut into her leg, blood trickling down the limb to the floor in a pool.

"You were the family of Sparda," she said, "Did you really think that something wouldn't happen to her? Out of your entire, precious family…she was the one weakness."

"Start talking faster," he said, his eyes flashing a brighter red, a dim glow beginning to appear in the barrel of his guns.

"Don't worry. I intend to tell you everything before I finish you. You honestly don't believe you can beat me, do you?"

He didn't say a word.

"We had hoped to harvest the both of you after your mother's death…Mundus and I," she explained coldly, holding his gaze steadily, without fear, "The sons of Sparda would be infinitely more useful alive and under our control rather than dead. That was why I stole a part of your mother and used it to help Mundus create Trish. To placate you. To disarm you."

"So you want to make my brother and me your slaves," he said, filling in the blanks without much thought, "How nice of you. So why are you back? Revenge for Mundus?"

"Ha! Mundus was foolish to trust Vergil and Trish with destroying you. Faithful pawns they might have been, but with their attachment to you, something was bound to go wrong. But there's no need to avenge him. He'll return soon enough. As for me…I just love toying with you!"

"You're toying days are over, Deumos!"

"Are they? Why don't we ask your mother?"

It happened. He didn't know how, but it happened. Deumos was there, and then a split second later, he was looking right at his mother. She smiled lovingly at him, her eyes warmly greeting his as she held her arms out to him. And for that moment, he hesitated, lowering his guns. _Mother…_

"Die!" he heard Deumos' voice roar, echoing through the garage.

A flash of black and blue went across his vision and Vergil abruptly came into sight, his sword waving away the streaming stakes of what seemed like pure steel coming right at him. Deumos gave a shriek, her disguise dropping already, her hands splayed out, glowing a malicious orange and black.

"I told you to come alone!" she screamed, sounding oddly accusatory.

"I guess I was followed," he said with a shrug, not quite sure how to feel about the matter.

Vergil stood up straight as the stakes fell to the floor, the blade of his sword fading into the form of a simple cane as he tapped the end against the ground, clicking once. So that was how he drew the weapon. In his other hand was Rebellion. Lady appeared from the shadows to his left a moment later, Kalina Ann leveled right with Deumos. His twin turned just enough to see him.

"Is that what you wished me to know?" he asked.

Dante nodded.

It was strangely returned by Vergil. Without saying another word, they both charged, Dante only slowing long enough to take his own sword from his brother. Deumos didn't even move. Hell, she didn't even seem perturbed by their attack. Lady launched off a missile before they reached her, and they watched the explosion grow. Just as the flames and smoke died, they struck.

The demonic aura crashed into them before their blades could even come down. Ghastly orange light seemed to make the air pressure increase, pushing against them from all sides, crushing them. Deumos' hand reached up to examine Vergil's sword.

She was already out of Dante's reach.

"Really, such a weak devil arm for a son of Sparda," she purred, cracking the blade in half as though it were glass, "And you thought to harm me with this?"

Vergil didn't say a word as he took what remained of his weapon and slashed it across her face. The broken edge made a single, jagged cut down her eye. Deumos shrieked once, a hand coming up to cover her gruesome wound. A stout kick sent them rushing through the air and tumbling into Lady. In the confusion of limbs, bodies, and cries, he heard Deumos call out to them.

"Until our next date, Dante! I look forward to seeing you again!"


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17 – I Didn't Think You'd Believe Me

By the time they got back to Devil May Cry, it was nearly midnight. Having been injured and beaten enough to even begin to tire both of them, Dante and Vergil both hobbled their way out of the garage, Lady being the only one that had escaped unscathed. Within minutes, they recovered from their wounds, blood drying into powdery dust, flakes falling from where it had been shed. But it wasn't that that caused their delay. No. Some pretentious asshole had decided to call the police due to the noise. And three people…well, two(because Vergil had no visible weapon) people with hardware tend to be a little noticeable. His brother's cane had simply reformed itself, the broken blade lying on the garage floor vanishing.

The minute the door opened, Dante was just about to make a comment about…something or other, when a fist collided with his jaw. He spun around, caught unaware, and collapsed like a ragdoll to the floor.

Lady had frozen. It hadn't been her. It took a moment to realize that the punch must have come from none other than Vergil. He groaned, righting himself and standing, one hand rubbing his jaw where his brother's attack had hit.

"Mind telling me what that's for?" he grunted through a fat lip, tingling as he felt his muscles and tissue healing.

His brother didn't say a word. At least, not to him. Instead, he turned to Lady.

"Please…leave us alone," Vergil requested…not ordered…in a whisper.

Somewhere in his befuddled mind, he was weirded out by the softness in his voice. Lady only nodded, as though she understood, and turned to leave.

"Give him one for me," was all she said before closing the door on the two of them.

Dante gave his brother a perplexed look.

"What's this-" he began.

He didn't get a chance to say another word. The next thing he knew, he was blocking a kick that could easily have thrown him back through the window at his left. Grunting as he bore the brunt of it, he stepped forward quickly and threw a punch at Vergil, catching him in the chin. His twin staggered backwards, stunned stupid for the time being. Dante didn't wait for it. He kept coming. But of them slowly regaining their senses all the while, they both sent kicks at the other that crossed in the air, spinning around and countering with the same hook kick to the head. Both attacks deflected each other, and they switched to punches. Vergil hit him in the ribs while he scored a palm strike to his stomach. They recoiled and went at it again.

At some point, Dante was thrown across the room, landing on the pool table. Without a single thought, he recovered, vaulting to his feet and slamming his boot into Vergil's face in the same motion. He thought he heard a distinct crack as it met with his brother's nose. Blood spouted from Vergil's nose as Dante came at him again, swinging wide. His twin ducked under it, upper cutting under his shoulder, setting his entire arm out of place. Pain lanced up the entire limb, his breath hissing out of him. The last thing they exchanged was a single punch, both of their fists meeting in the air. The effect of an explosion occurred and both of them were forced back away from each other. He ended up against the pool table again, wiping blood away from his mouth.

"Been awhile since we've had a day like this," he gasped, heaving for breath.

Vergil was utterly quiet as he held a hand to his side, bent over. Lifting his other hand up, he pushed against his nose, cracking it back into place.

"Last time we went at it this bad was…" Dante muttered, leaning back on the pool table, relaxing for the time being.

"The day on the hill," Vergil finished the thought.

"Really? I forgot all about that. I was gonna say Temen-ni-gru."

"That was nothing."

"Yeah, maybe. Clown boy kept interfering."

Vergil nodded.

What a day that had been. That had been…years ago. More than he had thought about in a long time. They might have been eleven at the time.

"What did we fight about that day?" he asked, honestly not recalling what had caused them to come home bloodied, bruised, broken, and just about everything else, their mother screaming for their father at the sight of them.

She had thought something had attacked them.

Vergil let out a small sound. It might have been a short laugh.

"I don't remember," he replied, shaking his head.

Dante finally stood up straight, craning his neck and pulling his arm back into place with the other.

"So, what was that all about?" he questioned, somewhat confused.

"Maybe I just felt like hitting you," Vergil retorted.

"I was being serious."

There was silence for a long time.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Vergil asked finally as he too rose to stand up.

Dante sighed.

"I didn't think you'd believe me," he answered truthfully.

"You're…an idiot," his brother let out.

Now Loading…

Nero returned late that night. Evidently, after he had left, everyone else had decided to go about doing their own thing. Kyrie and Patty "went out". _World only knows what that means._ For once, however, Nero seemed to prove that he did indeed possess some amount of brain power in that thick skull of his.

"Where the hell have you been?" Dante asked as his student walked through the door.

"I…what happened to you?" Nero started on seeing him holding an icepack to his forehead behind the desk.

Even though he had the extraordinarily cool and useful regenerative abilities of a demon…damn, Vergil could sure pack a punch.

"My question first," he said, pointing at him.

Nero shrugged off whatever confusion he felt, momentarily distracted as Vergil just so happened to walk into the office, zipping his vest shut, his hair slicked back and still damp from his shower. Nothing passed in-between the brothers to betray just what had taken place. Even Lady didn't say a word. She just sat there, her arms crossed.

"I decided to tail Deumos after she left the garage," he explained.

Dante stared at Nero, dumbfounded.

"Nero…I could kiss you," he let out in a sigh, crashing back down to the floor from his perch.

"Don't," Lady muttered from her seat near the wall, "I doubt any of us could handle that image for the rest of our lives."

"You know you want it!" Dante shot back, turning his attention back on Nero, "So, where is she?"

"Turns out she's got a mansion on the outskirts of the city surrounded by forest," he explained.

"Summer Grove Manor? Never figured she'd be right in my neighborhood."

"What do you say we go knocking on her door?" Vergil said as he picked up his coat from the nearby coat hanger, glancing at his brother.

A smile formed on Dante's lips. And though it was not shared by his brother, something passed between them that was not missed by either Lady or Nero.

"Sounds like fun!" he exclaimed, reaching into the top drawer of his desk, "Kyrie! Patty! I have a job for you!"

"What?" Patty cried from somewhere upstairs, and soon the office was filled with the sound of rushed footsteps coming down the stairs, "What is it? What is it?"

Taking the key from the top drawer, he then placed it in the lock in the bottom drawer. It clicked, and pulling it open, he then retrieved a myriad of items; a pair of automatic submachine guns, three Uzis, one semi-automatic pistol, four or five grenades, and nearly a dozen different clips. He didn't even look up as he did this. But when he finally did, he saw the wide-eyed looks he was receiving from just about everyone except Lady and Vergil. Patty and Kyrie were frozen in place.

"Don't tell me you want us to-" Patty began in a protest, crossing her arms where she stood.

"Calm down, Patty!" he said, waving a hand at her and cutting her off before she could go on, "I need both of you to guard the place while we're gone. And you might not even have to use these."

"But-"

"No, buts."

Without saying another word, Dante took another key from his pocket and walked over to the far corner of the office. The one not blocked by a jukebox, couch, heater, desk, chair, pool table, garbage, or anything else that you probably found commonly in the office. The one that he never used. The only thing that was unusual about it was a large steel reinforced door, bolted shut with just about every lock imaginable and then some. No one had ever seen him use the door. No one had ever asked him about it either. Actually, the only one who had ever been in there before was Nero. And that was once.

But then, no one had any reason to. Dante smiled as the key slid into place, unlocking the first of many locks, a padlock. Next came the combination locks. After dialing in the numbers and tossing them carelessly to the floor, he pulled back the bars from the door and gave a push.

"What are you doing?" Lady asked him, an eyebrow raised.

He sighed. The door wouldn't open.

"Grabbing some extra firepower?" he let out in a breath as he slammed his foot into the door, the bottom scrapping across the floor loudly.

It fought him every inch of the way, but with another kick, he sent it flying into the wall of the room. He turned to everyone else.

"You coming or not?" he asked, waving them over and disappearing from their sight.

The room was made of large, industrial-sized brick, painted and/or stained black from a variety of things. Paint being one of them. Dust was another. Gunpowder and explosive blasts were another. And so on and so forth. As soon as the first of them, Patty, stepped through the door, she gasped. If she thought him pulling all the hardware out of his desk drawer was bad…

"Welcome to the bat-cave," Dante said, holding his hands out as everyone slowly piled in.

Along every wall were a set of deeply organized metal shelves and brackets. Off to the right, what was his heavier artillery was stashed. Grenade launchers, missile launchers, heavy automatic rifles, sniper rifles, flamethrowers, landmines. _Hell, I even have a mortar or two in there. I think…_ Dante only spend a second or two trying to recall if he had used them. Anyways, the amount of clean and maintained equipment was astonishing. Sometimes he even surprised himself. Above the rack were endless boxes and cartridges holding just ammunition for just about every gun that had ever been created.

The other wall, however, was lined with weapons of a slightly different nature. As anyone who got to know him for even a second, swords were a common place piece of equipment with Dante. And swords there were…from just about every country in the world. Katanas, odachis, bastard swords, rapiers, falchions, Chinese broadswords, scimitars. And then came axes, maces, warhammers, polearms. It was the far wall, though, that held the most outlandish set of weaponry in all of Devil May Cry.

Devil arms. And Dante had become a kind of collector.

Patty's jaw was dropping so low that he thought it might hit the ground and roll. Lady and Kyrie were absolutely speechless. Even Vergil's eyebrows were slightly raised as he stood in the doorway.

"So, whadya think?" he asked aloud in the silence.

"It's…" Nero began.

"Clean," Vergil put in before he could continue, and then added with a hint of sarcasm, "Amazingly."

Lady snorted, despite the situation.

"I know," Nero said as he surveyed some of the melee weapons on display, "It shocks me every time."

"Pipe down, He-Man," Dante jibed, shaking his head and walking over to the far wall.

"Dante, what are you doing?" Lady asked as he began to take certain weapons from the wall.

"Bringing in the big guns," he told her, looking over his shoulder and jabbing his thumb at the right, "Take your pick. Deumos has a mansion for a reason. I figure the more boom we have, the better off we'll be."

"Sometimes you act so smart."

"I always act smart."

"Yeah, smart_ass_!" Nero grunted.

"Enough about my ass," he said, handing Nero a certain sword after retrieving it from its place on the wall, "I figure you might appreciate some additional kick. Careful! It tends to stab the one who uses it!"

Nero's hand hovered inches away from the hilt of the sword at that. It was a moment later, after looking at the smile on Dante's face that he realized that he was joking with him. But, then again, even Dante wasn't entirely sure how cooperative Alastor would prove with a new partner. But the only thing that happened when Nero took the handle in his left hand was a streak of lightning shot up the length of the blade. The sword was reacting to the presence of demonic blood. A faint buzzing emanated from it.

_And you're gonna need something better than Red Queen for this, kid._

"Hey, it likes you!" Dante exclaimed, "Stabbed me in the heart when I got it. Oh well…"

As for himself, he grabbed a pale blue nunchaku, clipping its chain to his belt. The bars were cold to the touch, steam falling from the weapon as they left his grip. He picked up a final sword and handed it over to Vergil. His brother stared down at the blade as though lost in thought.

It was Yamato.

His twin took the sword by the scabbard, unsheathing the blade and studying it with mixed surprise and…well, rightness.

"You repaired it, I see," Vergil stated calmly as he sheathed it after another moment.

"Actually, that was Nero," Dante said, nodding at the young man.

No one else said anything as his brother turned to face Nero. A strange look came to Vergil's eyes, flickering there for all but an instant, and disappeared. Dante understood.

_He's still not ready to tell him. _

Vergil only bowed his head.


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18 – Break Down

"Such a nice place," Dante exclaimed as they beheld Summer Grove Manor in all its glory.

The large, brick and mortar mansion might have fit five of his offices in it at the same time and still have had enough room for a pool, backyard, and garage. It had three floors, probably a basement too. At least…for now.

"Seems like such a shame to blow a giant hole in it, wouldn't you say?" Lady said as she crouched on the top of the hill they had gotten to, loading Kalina Ann.

"Yep! Too bad for them!" he muttered as he pulled a grenade from his pocket.

The first shot from Lady's bazooka blew away the polished double doors at the entrance, as well as shattering the windows on either side of them. A second one followed only thirty seconds later, taking out the giant bay window just to the right of them. Screams howled their way from the house, red brick walls and white wooden paneling exploding left and right. Flames and smoke immediately shot out of the wounds like blood, and there were already a steady number of figures leaping from the gaps and any and all doors, eager to escape.

Dante drew Rebellion and practiced his swing a few times. After which he pulled the pin and sent the grenade sailing into the air above him.

_And….swing!_

"And it's a monster of a hit! It's going, going, going…" he narrated to himself as the flat side of Rebellion smacked that lovely bundle of joy right into the third story window, "Gone! Home run! It's one zip!"

Taking another grenade from his pocket and tossing it high again, the pin ringing as it fell, he chalked up another score for them as it found its way to roof and sent one corner of the place almost collapsing in on itself. The right wing started groaning as it suddenly found itself unsupported. The cries from that side of the building reached a pitch before debris came raining down. Dante whistled.

"Oops! Was that me?" he shouted as loud as he could, gaining the attention of some of the enemies who had gathered outside by this time, searching for the source of so much firepower.

Maybe they expected a tank. Because even from this far away, everyone had a clear view of the dozen or so figures doing a double take of the four standing on the hilltop.

"I think it's time we say hi," Dante said, turning to Lady, "Everybody ready?"

"You bet!" Nero yelled, whipping Alastor from his back like a lightning bolt.

Lady nodded, replacing her Kalina Ann for the pair of her pistols. Vergil only stared at the oncoming foes, Yamato held in his left hand by the scabbard.

Turns out the group coming at them were none other than some of the same Legions Deumos had used against them back in her little club. This time, however, they pseudo-demon soldiers had been outfitted with a little more equipment than before. Unlike the first time, where they had merely donned the same generic black suit, these nasties came complete with body armor and other assorted weapons. Evidently, Deumos wasn't as stupid as she looked.

The snow slowed them down a lot. Granted, they were demons and moved faster than the normal person. But put something like snow into the mix…that'll slow anybody down. Dante could have practically shot them down at his leisure. Ebony and Ivory came out of his coat, his fingers working the triggers rapidly, mowing down the first line of Legions before they could close enough to do any damage. Black blood soaked into the snow at their feet, ten bodies falling. And then…

Well, not much happened. Dante heard the distinct click of Yamato's hilt against the scabbard, and that was all. The Legions, every single one of them, split into pieces. Not just two. _More like kibble._ Body parts went everywhere as the forms they had been disintegrated.

"Let's not waste any time," his brother said as he was the first to step forward, as though he didn't even notice the short work he had made of nearly twenty demons.

Nero and Lady stood there, frozen in time. Dante shrugged.

"Whatever," he sighed, waving to the other two, "Let's mosey."

Less than nothing disturbed their trek down the hill, across the short driveway, and into the gap that had once been the doors into the manor. By now, the flames had dimmed down to little smoldering piles of garbage that stubbornly resisted the winds and blowing snow that spilled into the main hall. Red carpets, wooden paneled walls, warm lighting. Everything was tarnished by smoke and ruin now. _So much for your little paradise, Deumos. _

"So, where do you think she is?" Nero asked as he stared at each of the three doorways out of the hall in turn, his left hand lingering on the hilt of Alastor as his back once more.

"At the top floor, in the highest tower?" Dante joked, causing Lady to shake her head at him, "She's old-fashioned. That's where she'll be."

"Then we should get going," Lady said.

"Well, maybe-"

He didn't get the chance to finish. Both he and Vergil noticed it before the others. The demonic aura flowed about them, surrounding them, gathering. And then, the floor shifted.

"What the fu-" he heard Nero swear as the carpet beneath their feet split suddenly, revealing barred walls that flew up from the floor, stretching all the way to the ceiling.

Dante and Vergil both glanced around as though they had expected such a move. The walls had dissected the wall into four separate areas. One facing each door. And not one of their group had been lucky enough to be in the area that led outside. They were divided. And trapped.

Dante let out a sigh as he touched one of the bars and felt his arm seize up.

"Sure enough," he said as he shook the numbness from his hand, "Walls are wired."

"I guess there's nothing else to do but move forward," Nero said from his own side of the room.

"Yeah, maybe…"

"We'll just have to be extra careful," Lady told them as she switched clips in her guns, "And hope we meet up later."

Now Loading…

The doors opened to reveal the dining room, cloth draped over the table, a triad of dishes set out ahead of time, food stacked high on various platters. Dante sniffed.

"Smells good," he said in an appreciative tone, and glanced around the rest of the room, "But there's something missin'. Where's the host? He's hardly good company."

Dante pointed a finger across the room at Vergil, who stood on the opposite side of the table. His brother shot him a disapproving look that, instead of filled with some kind of silent retort or warning, was merely his way of saying "idiot". Without saying a word, his twin crossed the room and tried the door. The rattling of the handle was enough to tell them that they were stuck here.

"What is this?" Dante asked to the room in general, maybe thinking Deumos could hear them, "Are we supposed to sit and eat? Sorry, I don't see a pizza."

Vergil was just about to cut right through the door when the presence of another being hit them like a bat in the back of the head. Where had it come from? And then, that question didn't matter either. As quickly as the figure had materialized into the chair at the head of the table, both of the brothers laid their swords across that individual's neck. Neither of them pressed hard enough to draw blood. Both of them knew whoever it was obviously wanted to talk.

The only thing was…there was something really wrong with said person. Really, really, really wrong. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing up. _What the…_

"I expect that you'll both find this form rather pleasing," the woman said in a gracious tone, ignoring the blades on either side of her throat, "Sit, I beg you."

Dante took a deep breath and withdrew his sword, spinning to sit comfortably in place, leaning back against the chair as though it were balanced on an invisible wall. Vergil took a little longer to sheath his sword, Yamato's edge lingering at the nape of the woman's neck for a second longer before his twin reconsidered and sat as well, his hands folded.

"What do you want?" Vergil asked, immediately getting to the point.


	20. Chapter 19

Greetings once again. Sorry about the long wait. Between being out of school and new computer restrictions at work(and very, very little free time), I've been out of touch with the fanfic for a while. Luckily, I finished much of it ahead of time. ^_^'

Anyways, here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy! And thanks for the reviews.

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Chapter 19 – Mission 7: Famine

"I?" the woman asked, smiling, amused by the question, "I hunger for tastier meats than what lies on this table. Though I must admit, never have I seen such to fine men as you. I wonder which is finer."

"Um, lady…we look the same," Dante pointed out, unable to restrain himself from saying the complete obvious.

The woman turned to face him, her smile widening. Her blonde hair bounced in place about her pale face, reaching down her back. Her dress was white, wrapped about her body as though it were a sheet more than clothing, only barely covering her breasts. She chuckled.

"You are right," she admitted, tilting her head towards him, "And yet, were I to compare you both…I believe I would find quite two different people."

She turned towards Vergil, a hand waving at him. He didn't even notice.

"Refined, poised, mindful," she said as she stared at him with an odd longing in her dark eyes, "But so secretive."

"Don't forget dark, brooding, and-" Dante tried to put in.

"Shut up, Dante," Vergil said, cutting him off.

The woman smiled.

"How a woman could love to break you open and learn all of your secrets," she continued, a hand reaching towards Vergil's cheek.

"Don't touch me," he growled.

He didn't have to move. Honestly. His tone was enough to turn the blood of any normal human or enemy to ice. The woman stopped where she was, her hand hovering in the air. For a moment, their eyes met and a scornful, raging glow appeared in the eyes of the woman. Vergil met it with the same stoic expression, unperturbed by it utterly.

"And you," she went on abruptly, the moment passing, turning to Dante, "Rustic, carefree, and so…so inviting."

Her hand reached towards his face this time. He only smiled.

"Ah, thank you," he replied.

"Dante," Vergil called from the other end of the table.

It was a warning. And he knew it.

Ivory appeared in the palm of the woman's hand before it came any closer. The click of the hammer seemed to stop time. Dante tut-tut-tutted in the silence that ensued.

"Listen, you're just too weird for me," he explained, "Now why don't you get to the point or get out of the way? We're kinda in a hurry."

The woman's face contorted, and for a second, it appeared drawn of all life. The color remained the same pale as before, only this time, Dante was looking at a skull with beady black eyes. The sight passed. But it was enough to tell him what he was facing.

Within the space it took for a single breath, her figure blurred. It seemed almost impossible for something to move that fast. He didn't even see her hand move from Ivory's barrel to grab his hand. All he felt was the reflexive jerk backwards as sharp pain went up his entire arm, nail digging into his wrist and something being pulled from him. Dante leapt backwards, his hand gone cold and barely able to hold onto his pistol's handle. Looking down at his hand to see what damage had been done, he found it completely normal. He raised an eyebrow.

"Confused, hunter?" the woman hissed and whirled at his brother.

Vergil flickered out of the way before she could even set her eyes on him. Quite suddenly, he was behind her. Dante almost missed the inhuman speed in which he drew his sword, flipped it to backhand, and thrust it through the woman's abdomen. His brother had gotten faster. Much faster. So much so that he had to piece together what his eyes had missed in his head. He understood, he could follow it. But he probably would never quite see it.

Whipping his hand back and forth as though he was trying to return blood flow to it, Dante watched as Vergil pulled Yamato from her body, her entire form giving a single spasm before it fell.

"Too easy," his brother drawled as he sheathed his sword.

Dante was about to say something in return when his twin leapt across the room, his eyes wide, clearly nursing his left hand. Just like Dante. The woman stood, her beautiful face against flashing to that feral, skeletal visage that he had only glimpsed at before. She smiled a sweet and dead toothy grin at them, her eyes like black holes in her face.

"Do you understand now?" she asked them as though she were dangling something of value right in front of their faces, "Do you see? You can't beat me!"

"You suck demonic energy from our bodies," Vergil stated coldly, "So what? You can't expect to win on that alone."

"I do more than that, little son of Sparda! Even your father knew not to tangle with the Four Horsemen! Your fate is sealed! I do not steal only your pitiful demon energy! I steal souls! Just as the greatest bout of starvation eats away at the world, I eat away at you! One touch is all I need! For I am-"

Bang!

Having replaced Ivory in his coat and drawing Ebony with his other hand(his right hand was still completely numb and the paralysis was now spreading to his arm), he fired off a single shot that went straight through the woman's jawbone. Her mouth unhinged and went wild as she screamed, her hands fitting it painfully back into place. Dante let out a deep breath, a single drop of sweat dripped down his forehead.

"Shut up!" he snapped, lowering his weapon, "We get it. You're Famine. But a corpse shouldn't talk so much!"

"Fool! Do you think you can defeat me? My touch is like poison! Soon…it will spread until you cannot even lift a finger against me. And once that happens, it will devour you until-"

This time, it was Vergil who acted. Cracking her upside the skull with the scabbard of Yamato, he sent her flying across the table, knocking dishes and food and drink in all directions. The scabbard slid free from the blade, and with a quick flick of his wrist, his brother sent a thin wire of a cut arcing towards her. Dante knew it was Yamato's power, the power to divide even the raw matter and stuff of the world and slice through it. Famine shrieked as her left hand fell loose from her arm, not a drop of blood spouting from the wound. Rather, ash trickled to the floor.

"I agree," his twin said shortly, "You talk too much."

Famine's eyes abruptly raised, locking onto them. In a flash, she was before them, kicking out at Vergil, her long legs appearing luscious and spindly all at once. His brother dodged it easily, almost stepping out of the way as Dante aimed carefully. Three quick shots almost lit Famine's entire side up, but missed by a fraction of an inch. She charged at him in a blur, her single hand clawing out at him. Another bullet tore it safely away from him, leaving a smoking hole in her palm, and leaving him free to roundhouse kick her across the room again. Her back slamming against the wall, Famine landed a little too steadily. A second later she morphed to the right as his twin's sword came slashing across the wall where she had been. Her hand shot forward, searching for purchase on his face. Instead, Vergil ghosted away to safety, aiming a summoned sword right for her. The energy blade rocketed across the room, piercing her shoulder. Shrugging the wound off as though it were nothing, she bowled over the table once more, coming in-between them.

_Which is the stupidest thing you could have done!_

Without even thinking or alerting his brother of his idea, both Dante and Vergil went into an all out sprint. From the other side, Vergil swung Yamato while Dante aimed. As soon as Famine ducked under his brother's attack, he blew a hole into Famine's thigh. _That should slow you down some! _Before she could even scream, Vergil stabbed his blade through her heart, tearing it free while Dante…

Neither of them got a chance to down anything more. Knocking Dante away with a toss over her hip, she clamped her grip down on Vergil's head. As he sailed through the air, his brother went oddly still as Famine began to laugh. Thankfully having gone untouched by her throw, Dante righted himself immediately and fired off a series of shots that pocketed her form. She let Vergil drop.

"Haven't you learned yet, fools?" she called out to them both as his brother attempted to right himself and failed, "You'll already dying. No matter how much you hurt me, the life energy I suck from you will only heal me!"

Dante glanced down at his brother as Vergil looked up. Where she had touched him, his face was drawn, sunken, his right eye was strangely glassed over. Something told him that his twin could not see out of that eye. With what appeared to be a great effort, he pulled himself up to a crouch, reaching for Yamato. But the look he received from Vergil told him what to do.

Twin brothers. They had kind of mind connecto-thingie. _It comes in handy. Especially when you start getting along again._

Dante fired off a single round that landed right between Famine's eyes, stunning her just long enough for Vergil to stumble around and make a quick slash across Famine's stomach.

And then…the impossible occurred. Famine started to scream. Not as in pain before. As in dying. A death scream. The cut had only been enough to slit her body open. But once Dante saw the piercing glow coming from underneath her skin, in her belly, he got it. Her name was Famine. She ate life energy. Wouldn't it make sense for her weak point to be in her stomach? It would explain why Vergil's thrust through heart and his shot to the head had done nothing. She was invulnerable. Until they drained her of her power.

Famine's white body contorted and vanished in a flash of white light. A wave of sparkling energy washed over them. Through the blinding display, Dante felt feeling return to his right arm with a steady, painful ache. _Pain is good. Pain means life. _From somewhere before him, Vergil managed to stand without trouble, his silhouette casting a dark shadow across his form. When the light dimmed to a single orb floating in the surface, Dante stepped forward.

Looking at each other, Vergil crossed the room and retrieved Yamato's scabbard. It was answer enough.

The devil arm was his.

**Devil Arm Information:**

**Name: Gluttony**

**Description: A white, barbed whip that has the vampiric ability to suck energy from the enemy and bestow it to the user. **


	21. Chapter 20

First, I'd like to thank you again for the comments. Its great to know I'm not writing a piece of garbage.

And now, for all you Nero fans...finally(I know, he's been catching crap from everyone so far, lol).

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Chapter 20 – Mission 8: Pestilence

It was just about after the third empty room he encountered that Nero switched on his headphones, music blasting from them as they rested against his neck. There was only so much of this he could take. And with no one else but him for what seemed like the entire mansion, he was getting bored.

The first room had been a library. And what with all the bookcases and shelves strewn about the floor, he had figured it would have been the perfect place for an ambush. His paranoid, cautious expectations were shot down quickly. The second room, to the left of the library, was nothing more than a study annex. More private than the first, it held only a single desk and chair, a computer and phone being among the only other things to decorate it. The third room, which he had just closed the door on, was broad corridor. Nero sighed, looking up. And came to a tense stillness.

He was in a bathroom. Normally, he would have turned his back on that immediately, unless of course he had to answer the call of nature. It was not so in this case. Apparently this bathroom was meant to accommodate many individuals at once rather than only one. Four sinks protruded from the walls, stalls to the left, and even a closed off section with a shower. The entire room, floor, walls, and ceiling were covered in the same white and gray tile.

And gallons of blood.

It didn't look right. As soon as Nero silently drew in a breath, he nearly gagged at the smell. It was the same as what he would have expected to find in a mortuary. Or worse. The blood was wrong. It was…just wrong. Everywhere he looked, hurried handprints and smears met his eyes as though he had walked onto a horror set. And every drop was a sickly, dead black. It wasn't even liquid anymore. More like runny jelly. But it was blood. The coppery smell behind the obscene odor was surely blood.

_What the hell happened here?_

Nero looked around, not even bothering with the minor thought that this room was probably empty. No. Someone…something was here. He could feel it. Somehow. Maybe it was how Dante had said he could sense demons. The demon hunter had once explained that he had to develop his "nose" for demonic taint, and that he'd probably only be able to get a fix on something big.

So…what did that mean now?

An involuntary chill ran down his spine as he drew Alastor from his back was a slight, electrical hiss. Sparks of lightning flew along the blade, glimmering nonstop. _Can even the sword sense it?_

Subconsciously, something told him to cut the music from his headphones. And as soon as he did, he heard it.

From the furthest stall, the one in the corner, came a sound. Scratching? No. Dragging? Maybe. Was it getting closer? Definitely.

"Come on out and show yourself!" he shouted into the depths of the bathroom(which sounded more epic than it really was in a situation like this).

A hand slapped against the edge of the wall, wrapped in soiled, bloody bandages. Where the worn wraps hung free, black, boiled skin shone clearly, like the thing's fingers had erupted with pustules. The next thing that was visible was the head, a grim, pained expression etched across the face as though it was permanent. The body slowly followed, bare, wrapped feet sliding across the ground, leaving trails of the same darkened blood as what stained the entire room. As soon as the whole of the creature was free from the stall, the decaying stench assaulted Nero again. Holding up his right arm to cover his nose and mouth, he coughed.

"Welcome, kindred one," the thing spoke from the gap in the bandages about its face, rotting, brown teeth clacking with each word, "Did the mistress send you?"

"Deumos? Sorry," Nero replied, trying his best to not breathe in through his nose, lowering the Devil Bringer, "I'm not one of your friends."

The neck cracked as its head tilted to the side.

"Ah, then you must be one of the intruders," the demon said.

"You got that right," he shot back.

The demon grinned, a green glow appearing in its eyes.

"Then I shall deal with you accordingly," it screamed, arms spreading out wide, splashing more blood on the floor as it seeped from its limbs, "Twist, wither, suffer, writhe, and die!"

As the blood sloshed over the tiled floor, even forming a puddle at his boots, Nero caught the steadily growing mist of sickly green that began to hover in the air over it. He caught his breath too late, hacking as he breathed in a mouthful of whatever was in the air. Without even thinking, he held what fresh air was in his lungs and charged, waves of black blood rippling as he went.

The demon smiled as he came closer, challenging him. Hell, the damn monster didn't even bother to move. Alastor came down on its shoulder, parting cloth, skin, bone. It probably even nicked an organ or two. But the demon shrugged it off as though Nero had poked it in the nose. A shockingly strong grip clamped down on his wrist. He saw the mouth stretched wide, a gapping, black whole lined with teeth coming closer and closer to him. It wanted to bite him.

"Not a chance!" he growled, slamming the Devil Bringer across the demon's chest and sending it flying across the room.

His feet were on treacherous footing. He nearly collapsed to his knees, crouching low his demonic hand crushed the demon against the far wall, tearing a nice chunk out of the stall door and parting the sink from the opposite wall. Water sprayed from the broken pipes as if he had uncorked a fire hydrant. The demon was oddly relaxed. It pressed up against the ethereal hand of the Devil Bringer.

"Is this all you have, devil whelp?" it spat, eyes glowing as it smirked his way, casting a glance to the water, "Water will only aid your demise."

Unable to resist the plummeting feeling in his stomach, Nero looked down to his feet. As the water met, swirled, and intertwined with the black blood, it slowly began to bubble into an emerald green. Nero felt it sink into his boots as the water level rose, trapped within the room and unable to go anywhere. He stepped back, releasing his foe. For now, he had worse things to worry about.

He still hadn't figured out what this thing could do. All he knew was that he was suddenly growing weaker.

Coughing as he stepped back to the door, his knees almost buckling as he reached for the handle, he shouldered it open and stumbled into the hall. The water followed him, acid-colored liquid staining the carpet black. He spun around at the sound of laughter, Alastor falling from his grip as he planted both hands on the floor to keep himself from falling. _What's going on? _

His left hand slowly turned a pallid white, his veins slowly turning a dead black while small boils formed all over it. He withdrew it, gasping in a sharp breath that called up another coughing fit. Nero spit into the water, barely noticing the drops of blood falling from his mouth.

"Growing sick, are we?" the demon asked from behind him.

Nero managed to snarl, his aching, pale hand grabbing at Alastor's hilt, using it more as a cane. The Blue Rose thankfully fell into his reach. But it seemed to take an eternity for his vision to settle back down. _Can't_…_move too fast. Gotta keep_…_steady. _

"What are you?" he hissed, firing off a crack shot from the double-barrel magnum.

The two bullets collided with the demon's shoulder, leaving smoldering holes in its flesh. It hardly noticed. Green mist, the same that had now begun to cloud everything, even the hall where Nero struggled to stand, flowed from it like blood.

"I am Pestilence," the demon stated proudly, "The Second Horseman."

_Horseman? As in_…_Apocalypse? How did Deumos pulled that off?_ But right now, that didn't matter. _If I don't finish this guy and get outta here, I'm gonna die. _

Nero shook his head. Out of all the things he could have died from since Fortuna Island, since the Savior, he was going to die because of sickness.

It was kinda funny.

He couldn't help but laugh at that.

"What?" Pestilence scowled from where he stood.

Though it was becoming increasingly troublesome to stand up straight, Nero somehow found the strength. Gripping tight against Alastor's hilt and yanking it free from the floor, he took a surprisingly strong step forward. Something about the sword gave him strength.

"Nothing," he chuckled, despite himself or the situation, and added, "Just kinda funny, you know…you thinking I'm gonna kick the bucket 'cause of a cold."

Pestilence was more than speechless. The demon might have been dumbstruck. He couldn't tell because he couldn't see his face. And he didn't care. Nero took another step forward, standing up straighter as a sudden warmth spread throughout his body. At his side, Alastor's edge flicked with lightning.

"I can't die! Not now," Nero cried, and smiled, "Sneeze at me all you want, you're going down!"

Nero wasn't quite sure what force propelled him into a flat sprint towards the Horseman. Only a minute ago, he hadn't had the strength or health to be doing any of that. He probably still didn't. He could feel the demon's poison coursing through his body. But, somehow, it seemed to have slowed. Maybe it was his demon blood. He didn't know.

Pestilence couldn't believe it either. And apparently, he knew he was done for. He had already proven that he was a slow fighter. Obviously he fought and destroyed his enemies by slowly draining them until they had neither the stamina nor the power to stand against him. But if someone could resist his effects…

Nero took Alastor in both hands as he leapt into the air. A bright flash engulfed his vision for only a moment, and then he was flying towards Pestilence with growing light surrounding him. The demon was stunned still.

A second flash of light erupted as he swung down with all of his might. He met almost no resistance as his blade sliced cleanly through the corpse that the Horseman already was. Even as the demonic steel passed through him, great bolts of electricity raced through his body, causing him to seize and twist and burn. Even before Alastor's edge bite into the floor, Pestilence was already vanishing.

Nero cast a look to his right. The mirror showed his true form. With Alastor in his right hand, he stood in bright white light, scaled wings at his back, an ethereal, skeletal armor about his body. His eyes shined a brilliant red, lightning surrounding his entire body. Even the water sparked as it met his touch. The metal pipes glowed a hot orange as hey began to steam, the green liquid baking beneath him until it became a calmer, less diseased grey. The mist dissipated. Slowly, Nero closed his eyes and the power left him.

His reflection was back to normal.

_So_..._that's Alastor. _

A green orb came slowly floating his way. Unconsciously, he reached out for it.

**Devil Arm Information:**

**Name: Pandemic**

**Description: A set of five darts with hollowed points meant for injecting their venom into an opponent. Connected by wire to the wrist launcher, the user can fire any number of the five at one or multiple enemies. They also retract on their own. **


	22. Chapter 21

Chapter 21 – Mission 9: War

The pair of empty clips clattered across the floor as she reloaded her pistols, the bodies of the Legion soldiers slowly falling with them. Stepping slowly into the next room, she whirled around as a demon on top of a pile of bodies made an unusual amount of noise for a corpse. Staring at it with her multi-colored eyes, she quickly double-tapped it without a second thought.

_Better safe than sorry. _

Nudging the door open with her foot, she turned, proceeding into the next room, deftly checking every inch of it. Compared to the wing of the manor she had searched through thus far, it was practically deserted. Without pausing for an instant, Lady passed by the fireplace, couches, winged armchairs. Caution told her to keep her attention on the suits of armor that lined the room. What kind of room was this? Holding some of the oddest collection of items, the only thing she could even think if resembled was Dante's armory back at Devil May Cry. Although…it might have been more accurate to say that it might be what it looked like if Vergil owned the office and not his messier, younger brother.

Bookcases lined the circular room, thousands of volumes and annals looking far more ancient than should be possible filling them to the brim, neatly stacked and set in place. On a few of the tables that stood in various spots, items such as demonic skulls, sheets of parchment, and even a strange ring and crown kept under a glass case. The sets of armor held just about every weapon one might have found in the Middle Ages.

Lady turned in a complete circle one last time as she neared the far door. When she was only a step away, she reached for the handle.

The experience she had gained since she was in her teens told her that there was something behind her. Without a moment of hesitation, Lady spun as quickly as she could, leveling her gun with the one armchair that was faced away from her.

The fireplace lit up quite suddenly, flames bursting to life from sheer nothingness. The shadow of a great monster was splayed across the floor from where it sat, perched like a bird of prey. Winged folded across its back, horns framing its brow. And yet…

A perfect normal looking man stood from the chair. His black hair was slicked back behind his head, pulled into a long ponytail. He wore a red suit coat and pants, a white button shirt with black vest and tie and black shoes. A few rings decorated his fingers, blood red gems set in the silver bands. He smiled as he nodded a greeting to her, his face finely shaped and pale. Lady's eyes flicked from his shadow to and to him. No, it wasn't a trick of the light. It wasn't an illusion.

What was this man?

Lady didn't bother with waiting for another second to pass. Pulling the trigger three times, she put a bullet in his heart and then two in his head. The man didn't even jerk back at the impacts. The projectiles might have passed right through him for all she knew of his reaction. He only blinked as the holes in his head vanished, briefly gazing at the closing hole in his coat. One of his eyebrows rose as he stared at her once more.

"I'm afraid that won't work, hunter," he said airily.

Lady only replaced her pistols, switching to Kalina Ann.

"How about this?" she asked, nodding down at the missile launcher.

He shrugged.

"Might work," he replied, casting an interested look at her, "Truth be told, I've never been-"

Boom! Lady didn't even wait for him to finish. He talked too much anyways. It reminded her of Dante. Her arms lurched backwards as the rocket went off, blasting right at the man. He didn't move an inch.

As calm as she tried to keep herself, she was shaking inside. Despite the cold, calculating shield she had grown used to wearing about herself since she was young, since she had resolved to hunt down her own father and kill him for his crimes, nothing had once broken through that.

But this was all wrong. This man, this demon didn't have a bit of fear in him. He hadn't even flinched from her shots. And as the rocket engulfed his body in the explosion, she knew he would still be there. He had been too confident of that. Lady gulped.

She was in over her head. Way over.

Now Loading…

After splitting up with Dante as they exited the dining room, Vergil had made his way through the kitchen and other rooms on the first floor. Besides some of the lingering Legions that had laid in wait for their enemies, his way had gone uninterrupted. The stairs to the second floor were guarded by a triad of snipers, which gave him only the slightest trouble. After attempting to proceed up the stairs only once, he thought it better to cut the balcony to the second floor right out from under the armored, demonic gunmen. Once they had been crushed underneath the rubble of the stone and wood, he leapt to the next floor without event. And since then, nothing had occurred.

Vergil paused in the middle of the corridor. Three shots rang off in the distance. Quickly going through what map he had in his head of the manor, he guessed that he might be close to the woman, Lady. There would have been about ten more gunshots if it were Dante.

His brother was loud.

He continued on, taking another step forward just to find the wall and floor under his boots rattle and shake from a sudden blast. It went off like a single, ominous drum to his right somewhere.

Definitely Lady.

Vergil froze. The demonic aura leaking from the mansion around him made him feel like it might drown the entire building. Stronger than Famine and the other presence he had sensed only minutes ago, he tightened the grip on Yamato's scabbard.

The wall right next to him exploded towards him, concrete and drywall flying all around him. His sword flashed out and sliced the debris away from him in a single swipe. And in the midst of it came a person.

_What?_

Lady was sailing through the air, falling through the gap in the wall. Leaping to clear the scattering barrage of the ruined wall, he caught her as she came closer, stopping her from slamming into the opposite wall. Her head jerked up to look up at him as his arm wrapped around her. Instead, he only glared ahead, the booming steps enough of a warning.

As the rubble and smoke cleared, an interestingly untouched man came from the other room. Which looked like a warzone behind him.

"It seems you have a friend, woman hunter," he stated quite calmly, looking Vergil up and down.

"What are you?" he asked, cutting the conversation short.

The man looked at him again, frowning.

"Are you to take this woman's place?" the man countered, curious, "She isn't much of a challenge, I'm afraid."

"You-" Lady started, trying to extract herself from Vergil's grip.

He had not let go of her. Vergil still held her close to him, the way they had landed. And if the way she was nursing her left side was not enough…

"You can barely stand and your ribs are most likely broken," he told her in a no-nonsense tone, glancing down at her, "Even if you can walk, you know you won't be able to fight him."

"That's…"

Maybe it was something she saw in his eyes. For a single second, Vergil almost found himself reliving a time almost exactly like this. One that had taken place years and years ago. And the woman in his arms was not so different as the one before. Lady stopped, a look of frustrated and bewildered wonder on her face. She frowned, her mouth opening as she was about to speak.

"Rest," he said in a softer tone.

Vergil turned away, focusing his attention on the demon. Without taking his eyes off of him, he set Lady down gently against the wall, kneeling for just an instant longer than was normal for him.

"I will ask you one more time," he said in a cold, dangerous tone, "What are you?"

"You seem quite strong," his enemy commented, "Though you're too overconfident for me."

Vergil said not a word. Inching Yamato out of his scabbard with his thumb, he allowed the ring to fill the silence for another moment before the man went on.

"Very well," he said, "You seem to be in a hurry to meet your end. I'll show you my power."

With that, blood started pouring from every surface that he could see. From the eyes, the nose, the mouth, the ears, even from under the fingernails and from his hair. It shimmered in the light, morphing as it slowly drowned his appearance, hardening like a cocoon. Only this cocoon became something like steel, stained red metal covering every inch of the demon. Spikes began to protrude from parts of his body, such as the knuckles on his hands, his elbows, knees, his feet. The shell divided into pieces, parting to reveal the black skin underneath. When the transformation was complete, he had donned a full suit of armor. Nothing of the man that had stood before them could be seen. The crimson armor had engulfed him. Beneath it, in the gaps of pieces, the small circles on the chain link, the visor of the helmet, burned the fires of Hell. Nothing else.

Vergil only gave a slight hum. His suspicions had been confirmed.

"So…then you are War," he said.

It was not a question.

"Correct," the voice of the Horseman came, amplified and distorted now, deeper and ravenous, "Prepare yourself, foolish one. Prepare…for the wrath of war!"

Vergil waved a hand out before him, a number of summoned swords spiraling to life in the air. Hurling through the air towards their target, they crashed into the armor, screeching as some ricocheted off of its surface, others finding the tiniest of weak points. In any case, War was sent sliding back to where he had came into the room beyond.

"Do not follow," he ordered, looking over his shoulder towards Lady.

He stepped forward to walk through the door as he heard the giant, metallic figure gain its feet again, a stout laugh echoing through the hall.

"Wait…" Lady's voice came from behind him.

He stopped in mid-step, turning around. And for just one second, as he blinked, it was not her standing before him, but another. _How long has it been since I've seen that face? _

"Why? Why do you keep defending me?" she asked, sliding her back along the wall so she might stand, "I remember you…you were so cold! Why do you…?"

He bowed his head, closing his eyes. The vision of the woman from years past vanished, fading slowly into the woman now standing before him.

"You remind me of someone from…a long time ago," he said, lifting his left hand in a fist.

Lady's eyes widened. Light reflected off the silver ring on his hand. It was the same as the ring that hung from the tassel of his cane. But it was enough. The woman…she understood.

"I…" she began, at a loss for words.

"Stay back," he warned her, strange emotion fleeting through him, "I can't promise your safety if you don't."

Slowly, Vergil turned, drawing Yamato from his scabbard as the form of War came thundering through the hole in the wall, an axe in one hand, a sword in another.


	23. Chapter 22

Chapter 22 – Mission 10: Beautiful Death

The cold aura that pulsated from the second floor assembly hall was enough to tell him something big was waiting behind door number one. Dante only shrugged as the air grew deathly chill, steaming rising from his nose as he breathed. Nudging the door open with Ebony in hand, he stepped into the darkened room without so much as a worry echoing through his head. The light bulbs had been burned out, or rather, destroyed some time ago. And from the way that even the thin layer of glass was melted, it looked like they had done nothing short of exploding. It left him in darkness. Fog had gathered across the floor, billowing in all directions as his feet and coat created clear space around him. He spun around.

"What…no welcoming committee?" he asked, holding his hands out, guns in each, "Talk about a let down."

It was only after he had finished that the clink of metal could be heard. Turning, Dante saw a chair sitting in the exact center of the room. In it, a lithe figure sat, legs crossed as the right hand gently twirled the giant scythe it held round and round. Taking a few steps closer, the figure became clearer. A young woman, appearing perhaps as old as twenty, sat there, a bored expression on her face, her head propped up by her other hand. Her black hair and eyes seemed to be made of the shadows themselves, and even her dress, a...thing that only seemed to wrap around her, danced in the air as though she were doing the Marilyn Monroe under the vent. Except there was definitely no vent. And no panty shot. _Damn!_

"Huh," he let out in a breath, "And you must-"

"Yes," the last Horseman said in a light tone, "I am Death."

"There's a surprise."

One of her thin eyebrows rose, an intrigued look coming over her face.

"Sorry. I was expecting the Ghost of Christmas Future look," he explained, "'Tis the season."

"I can choose to appear how I wish," she told him, idly turning her gaze back to the spinning scythe in her hand, "I am not bound to a single form like humans are. Do you not find it pleasing?"

"I'm sure not complaining!"

She smiled.

"Then do you not believe death can be beautiful?" she asked him in a sweet tone, smiling innocently.

Dante shrugged.

"Never had much time to think about it," he admitted, "I never stay down long enough to even get close."

His words produced a laugh from Death, a rich variance of notes that seemed too pleasing to the ears for such a demon.

"Then we shall have to see!" she sighed dreamily, finally taking a firm hold on her scythe, "Will your death be beautiful?"

Now Loading…

Innumerable ribbons of light whipped across War's armored body, flicking out of existence as swiftly as they had appeared. Vergil sheathed Yamato at his side, now behind the great, lumbering hulk of demonic steel and energy. A steady crimson steam began to rise from the Horseman, staining the air.

"Wha-what are you?" he asked chokingly, frozen to the spot, "Even if you are Sparda's son! How could you…a lowly…h-half-breed defeat me? Is it…preordained that we all are to be surpassed? H-how? I…I won't…be beaten! I…am…War!"

He turned, giving the Horseman a cold glare over his shoulder. Even as he sensed the demon summoning the last of his broken strength, Vergil warped out of all sight, moving with a speed that even many demons could not glimpse at, and materialized before War, Yamato's blade buried deep within the cracked breastplate of the crimson armor.

"It's time this fight ended," Vergil said coldly, pulling his sword free of the Horseman.

Not even War saw the series of strikes that riddled his form with wounds, splitting his already damaged form into pieces. A single click was all that sounded, Yamato's hilt against the top of the scabbard, and then the Horseman disintegrated, leaving behind a floating red orb. Vergil stretched out his hand.

**Devil Arm Information:**

**Name: Crusade**

**Description: At first appearance, it seems to be only a simple gauntlet. But at will, it can transform into a shield of any size, as well as change shape to become bladed or spiked. This makes it a very devious weapon, as it can be used for both offense and defense simultaneously. **

The woman sat against the wall, hunched over as she nursed her left side. She had taken the time to secure it in bandages, apparently coming from one of the packs she always wore wherever she went. The said pack had been tossed some feet away, empty. Even still, Vergil could see the beginnings of the large bruise that no doubt stretched from shoulder to hip just above the top of the final layer. She would be in pain for some time. Lady had also sacrificed her jacket, tearing it to dress the other wounds she had received from the Horseman. In nothing but her shorts, boots, and plenty of bandages. Just finishing tying a last knot over the strip of cloth that covered a long gash down her thigh, she looked up at him.

"I take it that means he's dead," she said gravely.

He only nodded.

She looked down at herself.

"Right," Lady went on, "Then we better find Dante and Nero, and…"

It was a battle for her just to stand. Struggling as she hefted Kalina Ann's strap to her shoulder, she gave a cry as she suddenly lost her balance, the heavy weapon almost throwing her to the floor as it slipped from her grip.

Vergil caught her before she could go that far, placing her back against the wall for support.

"You're in no condition to…" he began.

She didn't give him a chance to finish. The woman slapped him. For a brief second, Vergil was enraged by the stinging insult. But he felt his anger leave him as she gave him a hard stare.

"I might only human, but I'm not some child," she growled, "You can't order me around."

_I wasn't going to order you to do anything. _

He didn't say it. Knowing Lady, speaking right now might only make matters worse.

"And stop protecting me!" she commanded, "I don't need your help."

Something in her eyes made him speak.

"Is it because I'm the one defending you that you say that?" he asked calmly.

Her eyes widened. Maybe she was surprised that he had seen through her. But that startled image went away and was replaced by anger.

"Do you really expect me to believe that ring on your finger?" she shot back, "I can't believe you were ever caring enough to love someone!"

Vergil did not attempt to make a response. What could he say to such words? If she didn't believe him, then she didn't believe him. He stayed there, only staring at the woman. Lady did just the same, though she seemed restless. Maybe she had expected him to say something back. Had she wanted a fight, a comeback?

"Believe what you like," he said simply, shrugging and stepping closer, "But there's no way you're going to make it to the others without my help."

"Get-" she started, her hand raising to punch him in the face again.

He caught it without a thought. _Lady_…_enough. _

"Neither of us have the time to keep on arguing like this," he told her with a cutting truth, "If you don't cooperate with me for now, you may never find the others. There's still one more Horseman to combat, and I don't intend on letting someone like Nero-"

"Nero?" she exclaimed, confused.

Had she expected him to say "Dante" instead? But it was the truth. His brother was not the one he was worried for. But the gathering demonic aura that was beginning to fill the mansion to the brim would find a victim soon.

And he had no intention of it being…

"Save your opinions for later," he said curtly, slipping one of her arms over his shoulder to carry her in what manner would most fit a woman of her lack of cooperation.

Lady was stunned again.

"Nero?" she repeated in a bare whisper, and then is dawned on her, "God…is he your son?"

Now Loading…

In the room, Death sat in her chair again, her scythe still in hand, laughing hysterically at the man lying on the floor in a pool of blood. It was shared by the slow, coughing chuckles of Dante.


	24. Chapter 23

Chapter 23 – Laugh In The Face Of Death

Vergil was the first to hear the pounding footsteps coming up their way, along with the steady stream of gunfire coming from the opposite end of the hall. At first, he had thought to find the source of the massive demonic aura here. But before he could search the next room, his attention had been lost. Lady leveled her sawed-off shotgun with the doorway to the staircase across the hall, her face grimly set with determination and pain. Her wounds were tiring her. Suddenly, a body flung through the opening, smacking into the wall and flinging loosely like a ragdoll to the floor. A Legion. Great arcs of blood riddled the floor, following after it. Placing the injured hunter against the wall, Vergil readied Yamato, his right hand on the hilt.

Nero stepped through the portal, looking torn, a little bruised and dirtied, but absolutely fine. Huffing out a few deep breaths, he placed Alastor against his back, waving to the pair.

"Hey!" he called, crossing the distance between them, "Nice to see you two made it. How about the old man?"

"No clue," Lady replied, lowering her gun and breathing a sigh of relief, "Any trouble?"

Nero shook his head.

"Besides a lonely mummy, nothing," he remarked nonchalantly.

Vergil raised an eyebrow.

"Mummy?" he repeated.

"Yeah, Pestilence," Nero explained shortly.

He nodded.

"Then where's Dante?" Lady asked, pushing herself off the wall a little and trembling forward.

"Here," Vergil answered, facing the doorway.

Shrill laughter was just discernable beyond it. And while the ice cold aura that blasted out from the area had begun to cloud his senses, he felt certain that the nearly dormant energy flaring beneath it was Dante. There was no doubt about it. Nero took a step towards the door and stopped. Evidently, even he could sense what lay beyond.

"We've taken care of War, Famine, and Pestilence," Lady said, never taking her eyes off the door, "That means Death is up ahead."

"Kinda sounds cliché, doesn't it?" Nero joked, placing his left hand on the hilt of Alastor.

Silence took that joke. All the three of them could do was look at each other.

Now Loading…

The door opened to the sound of girlish laughter echoing throughout the misted room. The bitter wind sent shivers down his form as he lay on the floor, face towards the ceiling, staring into the unseen ceiling up above. The light from the hall cast three shadows across the fogged floor before the doors closed once more. Even still, he couldn't stop chuckling to himself.

"Dante?" Lady shouted from the doorway.

"Y-yeah?" he called back, sitting up from the floor, his head suddenly sticking out of the mist.

It was all he could muster to keep a straight look on his face. Death, who had obviously noticed the newcomers, had not even acknowledged their presence in her hysterics. He smiled as he turned around. There stood Vergil, Nero, and Lady, the woman leaning against Vergil, bandages over her entire body.

"Whoa, Lady! Return to your sarcophagus!" he said, mockingly shielding his eyes from the sight of her wounded figure, "Away with you!"

She scowled at him from the end of the room as Death burst into tears from laughing, bending over, dropping her long forgotten scythe to the floor. Instead of offering him a reply, she, along with everyone else, could only stare at the impossibly strange last Horseman. Stooping in her chair, she bent over, wrapping her arms around her sides.

"It…h-hurts! It hurts!" she gasped in-between laughs, "Make it stop!"

Nero's face was stuck on a look of pure horror as he stared at the Horseman. Turning to Dante, he opened his mouth. It was a long time before any sound came out. Dante stood up at last, dusting himself off and ignoring the tears in his vest. By now, the wounds had long since faded.

"H-how did you…" his apprentice asked him, stammering to a stop.

"You have much to learn, my young apprentice," he said, smiling with pride.

"Did you just befriend Death?" Nero finally asked, dumbfounded.

"Yep."

Vergil and Lady didn't say a word. Maybe they didn't know what to say. All the three could do was turn and stare again at the recovering figure in black, having retrieved her scythe from the floor with hearty amounts of giggles with every inch. She plopped back down into her seat, suddenly drawing herself, a serious look on her face.

"So…it is all of you that wish to enter the third floor and face Mistress Deumos," she stated, interested, a hand on her chin.

"Yeah," Dante said, spinning around and shrugging, "You finally up for a fight now that everybody's here?"

"Hm, maybe," she said with a mischievous smile, "That would certainly be interesting. But…"

Without warning, she stood from her chair, which disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The mists on the floor shrank back to her, vanishing under the hem of shadows at her feet. The bottom of the scythe clanged solidly against the floor. The serious expression never left her face. And then…

"I must pass!" she exclaimed, a bright smile on her face as she bowed to them enthusiastically, "You've given me more fun than I've had in ages! Just go and give her hell…I mean, heck!"

Even Vergil's eye twitched as Death, the most dangerous and gruesome of the Horseman of the Apocalypse, shot her arm out towards them, her other hand on her hip, and gave them the most bogus thumbs up ever. Lady shook her head while Nero seemed frozen to the spot in shock. Dante grinned.

"Thanks," he said, nodding, "See you around!"

"Go get 'em, Deedee!" Death squealed as a gust of black smoke rushed up from the surface of the tile and she disappeared from sight.

The room was silent for a very long time as the doors on the other end of the room opened on their own accord abruptly, signaling that all lights were go.

"Dante…" Lady began, managing to find the strength to right herself for a moment.

"Yeah?" he asked, an eyebrow raised.

What could she want at a time like this? The way was clear. A hell of a lot easier than any of them had expected. What was she gonna do…complain?

"You make the weirdest friends," she finished with a sigh.

He only smiled. Vergil's gaze met his. A silent passed from him to his brother. His twin spoke the answer not an instant later.

"Deedee?"

Dante snorted at that, stepping closer to the group. And for once, he couldn't think of anything to say in response. And you can bet he let the fact of that moment slip by. Otherwise he'd never hear the end of it. He had the reputation as a smartass to keep up, here.

"Right, Lady…I know you're not going to like this, but…" he started.

He never got the chance to finish.

"You're going to tell me to stay behind," she said flatly.

"Uh…"

"I already heard it all from your brother."

Giving Vergil a begrudging glare with a hint of something else(maybe because, in her condition, she could except that he was right, but he doubted that), she folded her arms across her chest, shaking her head.

"Deal," she replied shortly, then leveling him with a dangerous look, "But don't you dare expect me to stay put if you're in trouble!"

He nodded.

"You're such a pain in the ass!" she scowled.

"I try," he told her, then turning to Nero, "Well, kid..."

"You tell me to stay behind, I'll punch you" Nero growled just as deadly.

"Then you better punch me."

And he did. Or tried. Nero's Devil Bringer got about as far as half way to Dante before he spun into a crouch, deflecting the heavy hitting demonic boxing glove of doom and slamming his elbow into Nero's solar plexus. The kid's mouth spurt open, a gagging sound escaping him as his eyes went wide, losing focus. Without hesitating, Dante cracked Nero across the chin, sending him flying before he face-planted to the floor.

"Sorry about that," he said to his brother as he turned, clapping his hands, "But you know how he is."

Vergil looked down at Nero, a strange look on his face. Oddly enough, Lady was watching Vergil's reaction with great expectation. That was unlike her. _What's going on there? _Surprisingly, he looked up at Dante.

"You're right," he admitted in a tone that said "I don't like what you just did, but it was probably for the best" and added, "He's not ready. And this is personal."


	25. Chapter 24

Chapter 24 - Mission 11: Night Of Red And Blue

The stairs ended with the elegant archway opening up to the ballroom. Together, Dante and Vergil entered in the room side by side. And there, standing before them in the center of the room was Deumos. She wore nothing but a skin tight red dress, a slit in the hem coming up to her thigh, matched by the low cut that showed every inch of boob that was possible without making it into a porno. He cracked his neck as he walked in, straightening his coat. Vergil was motionless beside him, his face in the same, unreadable, but hard and cold glare.

"So good of you to join me this evening," Deumos purred from where she stood, her arms held up in a very, very sexually inviting gesture, "Dante and Vergil, sons of Sparda and Eva. At last I can finish that which started thirty years ago."

Dante smiled. And for once in a hundred times, it was not shared inside. The fuel of his sarcasm and light-heartedness snuffed out as soon as the vision of that night crept back into his head. The joking and cockiness went all away, leaving him as only himself. Maybe it was his own façade that he put up to hide his true self. Maybe he did it to feel safe. Maybe it had been like that since he had been the one to destroy the vessel that had been in the shape of his mother when Deumos had possessed Eva all those years ago.

For the first time since he had faced Mundus in his island castle, the smile faded and he felt the steady bite of his anger replacing the flow of sarcasm in him, fueling his power.

"Enough playing around, Deumos! It's time you answered for killing our mother!" Dante said in a seething voice, a stark contrast to his normal tone.

Deumos' eyebrows raised at his words.

"And you, Vergil?" she asked, turning to his brother and giving him a questioning stare.

Vergil's answer was much simpler than his own. Stepping back with his left foot, pivoting himself to be in perfect position to charge, he inched Yamato free of the scabbard with his thumb, his right hand hanging in the air, waiting. And he knew, through their blood connection, that Vergil's own mind was on that day again. The day of fire and death, when their mother's blood had been spilt.

"Then what do you say about facing your dear old friend, Trish?" Deumos asked coyly, disappearing just as a lone figure in black leap from behind them.

Vergil and Dante both spun away as the gunshots went off, bullets whizzing past their forms as they dodged to the side. His brother went to retaliate, his right hand already sliding Yamato free of its scabbard to slice her into pieces. Dante held out a hand, and somehow, from across the room, his twin noticed. Vergil eyed him grimly, only nodding. Deumos gave a triumphant laugh as she rose into the air, her body swiftly turning to mist and was absorbed by Trish's own body. She twisted in place for a moment, her feet hovering over the ground, shuddering with either great delight or great pain. Either way, when she was again on the floor, her feet firmly planted, she turned to face them. Red eyes and black pupils stared out at them from his friend's face. Dante's mouth became a thin line.

It was just like that day. Too much like it. And he refused to let it end the same way. Clenching his fist, he felt his vision sharpen, his sight taking on a red tint. His eyes were glowing. Deumos/Trish beckoned them forward with a finger, laughing all the while. The foreign gleam in her eyes flashed brighter for just a second as one of her pistols flew to her hand like a really good imitation of using the Force. Bullets started flying before either of them could say another word. It was with the same silence that the brothers bounced from location to location, appearing as little more than blurs in human vision, Vergil not even that. Dante drew Ivory from his coat as he went into a flip, the automatic gun falling right out of its holster and into his grip. His own bullets slammed into those coming right for him, sending white hot shell casings everywhere. It was then that Vergil leapt up behind him. As they met eyes, Dante smiled. And though he was only for split second, he knew his twin was also.

With his other hand, Dante pushed Vergil on by the bottoms of his boots, their coordination and timing perfectly synced. Before Deumos/Trish knew what was happening, Yamato had already slashed right through the black pistol in her hand, leaving behind a melting grip. With a frustrated yell, she tossed it aside, choosing instead to work with a more supernatural form of firepower; lightning.

Bolts of golden energy flew at them with blinding speed. Still, there was enough time for both of them to escape unscathed. Dante made a quick rebound off of the staircase, as he landed, Vergil ghosting into place at his back. _Okay, time for round two! _Replacing Ivory and drawing Rebellion from his back, both of them charged forward at the same time. Deumos/Trish shrieked, now pressed to keep her own attacks up as the twins closed on her without error. The first slice went right by her without so much as a whisper of wind, just enough to cut her cheek. The message behind it was enough to get the point across; get out. Maybe the demon knew they were only toying with her, putting her close enough to real danger in hopes of scaring her out of Trish's body. Either way, they both knew it was working. A single drop of sweat went down Deumos/Trish's face, her darkened eyes widening in momentary panic.

He hadn't even told Vergil his idea. His brother just knew. And as Yamato made another strike at their enemy, one that could have easily parted Deumos/Trish's torso from her legs and instead missed, there was no doubting it. Vergil understood. Trish was Dante's friend. And she also looked like their mother. Maybe it was his way of asking for forgiveness. And it was. And Vergil knew it too.

_Damn. Vergil knows me too well. _

"Come, come, sons of Sparda!" Deumos/Trish called out in a mock challenge, bent on keeping her confident façade up, "I thought you had more than this!"

"Don't get so cocky," Dante said as he whisked by, making a slash close enough just to tear a few strands of hair away.

"Do you really think we're even trying?" Vergil asked as he momentarily stopped.

His next movement was lost to time. Even Dante thought that his brother had forgotten that Trish's body wasn't to be harmed. It took his mind a second longer to realize that no blood was flowing through the air as his twin sheathed his sword again and simply stood as Deumos/Trish lay stunned in place. The clean cut on the opposite wall, dust raining from it like lifeblood as concrete and wood and metal were parted, was enough of a hint. That single attack was probably enough to call the nearest general contractor for remodeling. And though that wall was feet away from them, the cut lay merely a centimeter or less from the tip of Deumos/Trish's nose. It was a warning.

"Fools!" she cried, blasting lightning from her palms once more, "Don't think you can hold back against me!"

She charged. Dante and Vergil shared a look of mixed relief and criticizing disbelief. _Finally. _Just as her foot touched the ground before them, both of her hands raised for a final attack, a single blast that she felt sure would end their very existence, a triumphant look on her face…

Two auras of red and blue burst forth from the twins, demonic energy filling the room and every hallway and room thereafter, flooding the entire mansion and the grounds surrounding. Deumos/Trish rocked back from the pressure in the air, clenching her teeth as her feet struggled to stay on the floor and failed, sending her into the far wall with a thundering crash. Splits formed in the drywall behind her, as she groaned, the spiritual energies still pressing against her body, crushing the life from her. She was gasping for breath, the light in her eyes dimming. And just when they returned to normal…

It stopped. A stillness filled the mansion for a mile around. The whole world seemed to have lost sound. Deumos lay on her knees, in her own form as Trish fell to the floor, crumbling, heaving for air. But even from here, both of them could see she was herself again.

Deumos stared up at the two in fear.

"No…impossible!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, pointing at the two of them, "You can't have that much power! Not even Sparda…had that kind of strength! How…"

"It's no great mystery," Dante said in a darkened voice, strangely twisted as his gripped Rebellion with scaled hands, "Except to demons."

Vergil stood next to him, great plates of armor covering his body, his white slicked back. _Nelo Angelo returns. _Only this time, he held his own sword, along with another, a great sword with a glowing crystal at the pommel, a ring held inside it. Vaguely, he remembered the cane. But…hadn't it been broken earlier?

He didn't even get to ask.

"Helena," Vergil stated simply, nodding down to his second blade, "My lost wife."

Dante didn't even nod. _So that's Nero's mother. _Or rather, what was left of her. How weird that he had never asked about Vergil's wife. Maybe he never envisioned him with a woman.

Maybe he didn't want to. It was the equivalent of seeing his brother in a Playboy bunny outfit. It was….really, really, really disturbing. And wrong. Definitely that.

"You…you were holding back the entire time?" Deumos asked in a thin voice.

Neither of them answered. They didn't have to. That much was clear.

"We were," Dante admitted, shrugging as they both took their first, thundering steps forward, their demonic auras causing the room to shake, dust falling everywhere about them, "We were…"


	26. Chapter 25

So this is my last chapter for this story. Thanks to all who read and reviewed. It was a lot of fun.

I haven't quite decided if I'll continue writing more DMC stuff following this. I may. But it'll be some time before anything new.

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Chapter 25 – A Merry Christmas(Bah Humbug, says Dante)

The tree looked so completely out of place in the corner of the office, lights of multiple colors having the same effect as a rave might. Not that he hadn't blasted his music once or twice to try and start one with any woman who came in.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Dante sighed.

Phone. Foot. Air. Catch. You know the drill.

"We're closed," he drawled, shaking his head at the idiot who thought anything would be open on Christmas Eve.

Not that that had often mattered to him in the previous years. The person on the other end tried to make an explanation. He wasn't up to listening now.

"Bite me," he cut the person off with a yawn, "And happy holidays."

The screaming expletives that he received aside, he tossed the phone back into place.

"And people call me Scrooge," he said with a laugh, leaning back in his chair.

"Who was that?" Patty called from the kitchen, followed by the sweet scent of cookies, a Santa hat on her head.

He shrugged, closing his eyes only to reopen them as the door opened.

The most unlikely pair walked through the door. Vergil and Lady. And no, they didn't just happen to get here at the same time. Hell, unless he was mistaken, Vergil had even opened the door for Lady(which probably absolutely thrilled the woman). They were even walking side by side. And if this was not a now pretty regular occurrence had been played before, he might've repeated the same reaction he had had the first time he saw it.

They weren't dating. He wouldn't call it that. Taking the same missions was hardly enough evidence to say that just yet. But there was something between them. Lady was a little more curious about his brother than normal, and Vergil was obviously much more tolerant of her presence than normal. If he stayed around his brother that long, Dante would end up getting impaled by his own sword. Again. Again, again, again, again, again. _Right? It's been_…

He sighed again. _I forget how many times. _

"Welcome back, lovebirds!" he sang joyfully out in a non-enthusiastic holiday tune.

Lady scowled as Vergil gave him a disapproving look. Neither of them said another word to him, but went their separate ways, Lady climbing up the stairs. Not before casting another look at Vergil, of all people. _I know. Shocking. Vergil. With a woman. Scary. _

Trish sat in the corner, quietly watching the entire scene. She had been that way since Deumos had been killed the night two weeks ago. She had joked, made fun, talked, but only sparingly. Even Dante got it. She wanted to be alone with her thoughts. It probably troubled her that she had been used against her friends like that. Probably more than she cared to admit.

Dante was an expert on such times. He had been through more than he cared to tell.

"You planning on staying here?" he asked as his brother came to sit on the desk at his right.

Vergil's eyes looked down at the floor before hesitantly returning to the place where Lady had disappeared only seconds ago. They flicked back to him. His finger tapped the top of his cane(which was whole, somehow).

"Maybe," Vergil began just as two others came in through the door looking like that had been made into snowmen.

Clumps of thick snow fell to the floor, melting as Nero and Kyrie came through the door carrying a bundle of what looked like presents and food. Christmas at Devil May Cry. It was all Patty's idea. And Dante…he was just unused to it. But he didn't dare argue with the girl. She was meaner than the queen of hell during her time of the month. No way he was tangling with that. _Demon hunter who dare not go near the wrath of Patty. Nice!_

The lingering look Vergil gave Nero as he bent to place yet another wrapped present under the tree said enough.

"Are you going to tell him?" he asked, honestly wondering.

"I'm…not sure I can," Vergil said in a whisper.

He sighed again.

"Take your time," he said, standing as he stretched, "You'll both be ready one day."

This was getting to him. Vergil had a soon-to-be girlfriend whether he liked to think about it or not. Nero and Kyrie were in the corner, kissing oh-so adorably. And here he was, still single.

"Ah! All you softies are making me feel depressed!" he groaned, "Alright, who wants to give Dante a Christmas blow-"

"Dante!" Patty shouted before he could complete the sentence, flinging an oven mitt at his face.

Even Vergil allowed himself to grin as he shook his head, climbing up the stairs. To his room or Lady's, he didn't want to know.


End file.
